Christmakkuh in New York
by loudmouthgeek
Summary: Rachel is looking forward to her first Christmas in New York City. Quinn has absolutely no desire to go home for the holidays, so she takes Rachel's invite to stay with her. Est Faberry friendship. Started as part of Faberry Week on Tumblr. Grew into this
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"**

**A/N: If you've read my posts in "Faberry Week" then you've already read these two chapters, but this story has kind of grown into its own thing and Faberry Week is now long over so I decided to make this story independent of that one. I should have Chapter 3 ready in the next couple of days.**

**Christmakkuh in New York**

**Part One**

**December 10****th****, 2012**

As long as she lived, Rachel would never get use to how early it gets dark in the winter. Five o'clock was just a completely unreasonable time for it to already be pitch black outside. Granted, most days she didn't notice since there was enough artificial light in New York that you never really noticed. She only really took note of how dark it was on her trips to and from Yale to visit Quinn, which admittedly had become more frequent of late but so what she quite liked Quinn now and it's not like it was that long a trip, only 69.7 miles, an hour and a half with the right traffic conditions. And besides for the next three weeks she wouldn't have to drive anymore since Quinn was coming to stay with her in New York for the holidays. Rachel's fathers had always wanted to do Christmas in New York and now they had an excuse, Kurt was going home to Lima for the holidays, and Quinn really wanted to avoid doing that, so it all worked out rather perfectly. Rachel pushed a button on her steering wheel and waited for the familiar bing. "Call Quinn Fabray," she instructed her phone.

Two rings later, Quinn answered, "Yes, I'm getting packed."

"Hello to you, too, Quinn," Rachel said.

"Hello, Rachel. It's wonderful to hear from you again," Quinn said with no small amount of sarcasm evident in her voice. "And yes, I am almost done packing."

"That's good, though I should point out that you needn't pack toiletries as we have spare toothbrushes and I picked up your brand of shampoo and conditioner after the last time you stayed with us, and of course between Kurt and I there is a mountain of grooming tools and products in our bathroom."

"Oh yeah, I didn't think of that," Quinn said, "but it's already all packed now and it would be more of a pain to unpack it than just to lug it. How far out are you?"

"Just passing the Welcome to New Haven sign now," Rachel said, "so about another ten minutes, assuming I can find a parking space."

Quinn laughed, "Most of the student body fled campus yesterday as soon as their last finals were finished. You'll be able to pull up right in front of the dorm, no trouble.

**X X X X X**

Quinn was right. Rachel had no trouble pulling up curbside to find Quinn and her roommate Leah Brighton standing bundled up on either side of a small mountain of Quinn's belongings: two suitcases, two garment bags, and three rather large boxes. Rachel was rather glad that she had a sensible car with a sizable backseat since all of that stuff was definitely not going to fit in the trunk.

Rachel popped the trunk as she stepped out of the car, opting to leave it running so it would stay nice and warm inside. "Hello, Quinn. Hello, Leah," she gave each girl a brief hug in turn before continuing, "While I certainly value being prepared for most all scenarios, why do you have so much stuff? You're only staying with me for three weeks."

"Yeah," Quinn countered, "three weeks that include Hanukkah, which I _am_ celebrating with you by the way, Christmas, New Years, and your birthday."

"Miss Fashionable can't be seen in anything less than Couture," Leah teased, "even lounging around the dorm room."

"That is not true and you _both_ know it," Quinn said. Leah and Rachel smiled at each other knowing that while the part about the dorm room wasn't true, there was more than a hint of truth to the statement. Quinn had become something of a fashionista since leaving Lima. The three girls quickly loaded Quinn's things into the car.

When everything was stowed away, Leah pulled Quinn into a tight hug and said, "I'm gonna miss you girly-girl," Quinn nodded in agreement against Leah's shoulder, "Call me when you get there. It's already so dark, and they're talking about snow."

"Rachel's driving; we'll be safe," Quinn said, "That much is guaranteed. I will call you when we get there and many times after."

Leah released Quinn and pulled Rachel in and said, "You take care of my girl, you hear me? She's under your care now. If anything happens to her, I will come find you."

"And go all Lima Heights on me?" asked Rachel.

"What?" Leah asked.

"Nothing," Rachel said dismissively, shaking her head, "You just reminded me of a friend of ours from back home. You should come down for New Years. Quinn, Kurt, and I are going to Times Square. It's going to be amazing."

"Fight and shove my way into an enormous crowd with half a billion other people in the freezing cold so that I can watch the two of you make out? Pass," Leah was completely convinced that Rachel and Quinn were in a clandestine long distance relationship and nothing either girl said would convince her otherwise. It was entirely silly of course, just because the two spent a lot of time talking on the phone and driving to see one another whenever they had a chance, and crowding together on Quinn's dorm room bed… Okay, so maybe, objectively Rachel could see where Leah was coming from, but that didn't make it true. "I'm gonna hit up a friend's, warm blankets and hot cocoa and watching the ball drop on TV. I'm gonna try to get down there with you guys next year though."

"That would be lovely. Just call me when you know for sure if you're coming. You have my number, right?" Rachel said.

"I do, you guys drive safe."

"Always, but especially since I have my 'girlfriend' in the car," Rachel said sarcastically, air quotes and all.

**December 14****th****, 2012**

"_Farwell my beauties, please do enjoy the holidays in the splendor and wonder of New York while I am condemned to two weeks of awkward family gatherings in dreary Lima, Ohio, one or all of us need to be hugely successful by this time next year so that we can fly our families out for the holidays, because honestly, once you've lived in New York for five months one should never have to go back to Ohio. I'll be back in time to ring in the New Year with you. Love, Kurt. P.S. Quinn if you get into my night cream again and don't replace it, I _will_ cut you," _Quinn read the letter they'd found on the counter of the kitchenette of Rachel and Kurt's shared apartment.

Rachel laughed. "He's so dramatic. I think either the school or the city is bringing it out in him. I honestly think he's worse than I am now." She was hard at work on her holiday cookie baking. She had racks and racks piled on every available flat surface to cool while Quinn went back to her laptop hard at work on a story she'd been writing for the last month. Quinn was still a drama major, but she'd taken a creative writing class her first semester; she had most definitely been bitten by the writing bug and now she almost couldn't stop.

"I'm not so sure," Quinn said with a smile, "That's a fairly high water mark." After a couple of minutes of silence she spoke again, "He's not wrong though. I mean, I don't even live in New York, just visit far more often than a first semester freshman probably should and I love my mother to death and I miss her but if I never set foot back in Lima, Ohio, I'd be a happy, happy woman."

"Preaching to the choir," Rachel intoned, "I mean, I almost certainly will go back, to see my fathers, to check up on the Glee Club, but New York is my home now. In a strange way, I think it always was even though I'd never been here until about eighteen months ago."

Quinn smiled and looked up and over towards Rachel who was still steady working on her cookies. "That's kind of wild to think about, isn't it?"

"What's that?" Rachel asked without looking up.

"How much life has changed for us in such a short time. Eighteen months ago when we came here for Nationals, you and I were not friends, and don't argue with me on that," Quinn sensed the coming protest, "You were _friendly_ towards me, but we weren't _friends_, not like we are now and not even like we were this time last year. If after Nationals someone had said to me that in a year and a half Rachel Berry was going to be my best friend and that we'd be living together during the holidays, I probably would have just punched them in the face."

"Well, while as you well know, I abhor physical violence in all its forms, I certainly think that had someone told me at that time that I would currently not only be spending the holidays with Quinn Fabray but actually eagerly anticipating doing so, I would have insisted that I escort said person to the nearest medical facility to have them checked out for either serious head injuries, a large scale illicit substance abuse problem, or possibly both." The girls shared a laugh at this. Rachel pulled a pan of cookies out of the oven and set them on top of the stove, "I think I need a baking break. Did you have anything you wanted to do today?"

"Um, yeah," she said setting her laptop on the end table beside her, "Kind of a lot, now that I think about it. I need to get some presents in the mail or they aren't going to make it there on time. I've got a box of things to send to Beth but I wanted… this is silly, but I wanted to get her something from FAO Schwarz."

"That's not silly, Quinn," Rachel said, "That's incredibly sweet."

"I also wanted to pick something up for my mother from the Macy's on 34th Street. She's always loved that movie."

"Quinn, I had no idea you were such a sweetheart," Rachel said.

"And since it's snowing, finally, they've been calling for it every day this week, but since it's snowing I want to take my camera out and get some shots of the beauty of New York in the winter. I assume you have no problem with having your picture taken lots of times?"

"You assume correctly, Quinn. And you're right, that is a pretty full day. FAO Schwarz is on 5th Avenue and 58th Street, that's pretty much right across the street from Central Park which would be a great place to take snowy New York pictures. Oh and Macy's is on the way there."

"Yeah," Quinn said wryly, "you'd almost think I planned that or something."

"Are you making fun of me?"

"Me? Do something like that? Never!"

"Okay, now I know you're making fun of me and just for that I decline your request to take my picture in Central Park," Rachel said self-satisfied smirk.

"That's fine," Quinn said dispassionately, "I'll just take pictures of the snow and then when that student photography exhibit rolls around, your beautiful, bright smiling face won't be adorning any walls and no one will discover you and want to put you into their show."

Rachel squeaked and said, "Quinn you didn't tell me about any photography exhibit!"

"That's because I haven't gotten in yet," she explained. "I need the photographs to get into the exhibit and I need you to admit that although you have acting chops to spare, you've never been a model and agree not to be a diva when we get there. I'll accept your input, but I'm the photographer."

"Are you a photographer, an actress, or a writer?" Rachel asked.

"Are you an actress, a dancer, or a singer?" Quinn countered.

"I'm all three because I'm going to be a musical theater star."

"Okay, fair enough," said Quinn. "I'm pursuing things that I am passionate about. I don't _know _what I want to do with my life. Last year when I told you I love performing, I meant just that. I didn't say I had myself locked into being an actress, just that I love doing it. I also love writing and taking pictures. I don't know if I'm good enough at any of them to make a living doing them. That is why I'm trying all these different things."

"Very well, how does the photographer wish me to be dressed?"

"Do you still have that multicolor striped coat you wore when we came here for Nationals?"

"Of course," Rachel said.

"Good, I think all that color will really stand out against the snow. Wear the red tights, too if you've still got those. If not I guess we could pick some up at Macy's, but leave out the white hat. In fact, don't wear a hat at all, at least not during the shoot. You can wear one until then if you want."

"Quinn, at what point did _you_ become the one that speaks in paragraph form?"

"Shush you."

**X X X X X**

"What about this?" Rachel asked holding her arms above her head.

Quinn shook her head, "The pictures aren't supposed to look posed."

"But I'm posing for them."

"Yes, honey, I'm aware of that," Quinn said, "but the point is to make the poses look as natural as possible, and when have you ever held your arms like that in real life?" All things considered they'd made pretty good time on their shopping plans. Quinn picked up a beautiful scarf for Judy at Macy's and attached a note explaining where it was from. At FAO Schwarz Quinn picked up a brown stuffed bunny with big floppy ears which she had been assured was Beth would love. The whole lot of gifts had been dropped off at a nearby UPS, and they had retreated to the park to have fun and play with Quinn's camera. They'd taken several dozen pictures already, several of them really good the girls thought, but Quinn was still having a hard time trying break Rachel of the idea of posing for the camera.

"Never, I suppose," Rachel conceded, "It would appear that you're right. I have no idea how to be a model. What should I do?"

"What would you do if the camera wasn't here?"

"Go home. It is snowing out after all."

"Okay," Quinn said trying to remain patient, "then hypothetically, if you were the type of person to play in the snow, while it was coming down, what would you do if the camera wasn't here? You're an actress, right? Act!"

Rachel fell silent for a moment, presumably getting into character. She looked back up at Quinn with a familiar smile on her face and a bounce in her step. It wasn't Rachel's smile though. "Hey, Q," Rachel never called her Q, "Isn't all this snow awesome? It's _sooooo_ pretty." Rachel's impression of Brittany was pretty spot on. Rachel grabbed a handful of white flakes and flung them in the air. They caught on the breeze and blew right towards Quinn and the camera. The resulting pictures where Rachel's coat and dark hair are just visible through the haze were beautiful.

So focused on the display on her camera was Quinn that she didn't see the snowball flying at her until only a fraction of a second before it impacted her abdomen. She looked up to see Rachel wearing a smug self-satisfied grin that was more reminiscent of Santana than anything Brittany ever wore. Another great picture came when Rachel was suddenly pelted with a snowball from a nearby group of kids looking to be in the 10-15 range. "Interlopers!" Rachel bellowed fiercely, but still smiling. Scooping up another handful of snow she said, "Let me show you how we do it in Lima Heights!" With that, she unleashed the return salvo in the Great Central Park Snow War of 2012. Rachel and the kids flung snow at one another for the next twenty minutes, Quinn's camera snapping away the whole time, until a gaggle of mothers came over to her.

"Is your friend okay in there?" asked a tall African American woman.

"Honestly," Quinn said smiling, "I think she's having the time of her life. I don't think she ever got to do this as a kid."

"No snow where she grew up?"

"No friends," Quinn corrected with a stab of guilt in her voice.

"Really? That's hard to imagine. She seems like a very fun loving girl."

The snowball fight continued for another ten minutes before the various mothers called children away. Sharron, the woman Quinn spoke with, left her an e-mail address to send her pictures of the fight. When the last of the kids were gone, Rachel stood trying to fluff her matted bangs and shakes the snow out of her hair. "I think we failed to adequately plan this. We should have bought a battery powered blow dryer. My hair is soaked and I look a mess." Quinn just snapped a picture of her. "Stop that. I look terrible."

"I didn't fail to plan for anything, Rachel. The pictures are supposed to look natural, so naturally after a snowball fight your hair is going to wet and messy." She snapped another picture. "And you look beautiful as always." Rachel raised a skeptical eyebrow. "You _do_."

"While I remain skeptical, I defer to your judgment since you are the photographer and also because I have no way of seeing myself at the moment."

Quinn took another series of pictures, mostly focusing on Rachel's face, head, and hair and the results of her physical exertion: red cheeks and nose, matted, messy hair, and chapped lips. "So it's getting late," Quinn observed about half an hour later, "It's going to be getting dark soon and you're all wet. We should probably get back home soon."

"Before we do..." Rachel trailed off.

"Yes?"

"There's an undisturbed patch of snow over there. Come make snow angels with me," Rachel said smiling brightly and tugging on Quinn's hand.

"You're such a dork," Quinn replied. Rachel stuck out her lower lip in fake pout. "Fortunately for you, you're a cute dork." Quinn packed her camera away quickly and both girls lay down in the snow drift. "Santana would never have said interlopers," Quinn said, "It made your performance feel inauthentic," she teased.

"Only if you assume that I was going for an imitation of Santana. Actually I was attempting an amalgam of her and Brittany and she had a tendency to break out words that no one would give her credit for know. Essentially I cast myself as their daughter spending some time in the park with her Auntie Q." Quinn laughed at the thought of a tiny Latina girl who acted like Brittany or a little fair skinned girl with Santana's mountain of attitude.

Snow angels sufficiently made, the girl were just lying there on the ground looking up at rapidly darkening sky. Rachel walked her left hand over to Quinn's and took it in hers. "This has been most fun I've had in a long time. Thank you for suggesting it. And for that matter thank you spending the holidays with me. I'm certain I'd have been bored in Lima and I probably would have been lonely here by myself."

"For the trip to the park, you're welcome. For staying with you, I think we're doing each other a favor keeping each other entertained and out of Ohio."

**X X X X X**

"While today was fun, I fear I may never be warm again," Rachel said. The girls had both taken obscenely long hot showers after they'd gotten home and had a hot soup for dinner and vegan hot chocolate after and were currently in Rachel's Queen sized bed under two blankets. "I fear that I may have contracted hypothermia."

Quinn scoffed, "You don't have hypothermia, you're just a drama queen, and if you're so cold why are you way over there?"

"What do you mean?"

"You're practically on the edge of your bed," Quinn observed, "There's almost four feet of empty space between us. If you're that cold, get over here and cuddle with me for warmth. That is the treatment for hypothermia, after all."

Rachel inched herself towards Quinn and said, "I didn't want to assume. I didn't wish to invade your personal space without invitation."

Quinn wrapped one arm around the other girl's waist and the other underneath her and across her shoulders pulling them flush together. "You're such a dork, Rach," Quinn said into the brunette hair her face was buried in, "All the times you came to visit me at Yale we shared a freaking twin sized bed. I'm quite use to you being in my personal space. I kinda like it. Only with you could I be the big spoon."

Though Quinn couldn't see it, Rachel smiled and replied, "I like it too, even if you are kind of spoiling it by turning it into a short joke."


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"**

**A/N: I hope everyone had a wonderful, safe and happy holiday season, which ever holiday you celebrate. I know these are the wrong dates for Hanukkah next year but for the story I wanted Hanukkah to flow into Christmas**

**WARNING: There are references to recreational drug use here. If you are offended by this then I suggest you not read.**

**Christmakkuh in New York Part 2**

**December 16****th****, 2012**

"So tonight is the first night of Hanukkah?" Quinn asked. It had been a long exhausting day. Rachel's great cookie making endeavor had finished just before noon and the girls had spent the afternoon delivering literally thousands of cookies to various homeless shelters, orphanages, and hospitals. Their good deed for the holiday season now completed the girls were now crashed out on the couch cuddled up together once again. It had become the standard for them for the last couple of days when neither was busy with something else.

"That is correct," Rachel said with a smile, "I see you've done your research."

"I learned from the best. So tell me about Hanukkah," Quinn said.

Rachel's face lit up at Quinn's request. She looked up at the girl sitting behind her and said with great enthusiasm, "What would you like to know?"

"Well, I mean, I lived with Puck through one Hanukkah so I know about lighting the menorah and the dreidels and latkes, but they never really explained anything to me about what the significance of any of it or what Hanukkah is a celebration of. To be fair, at the time, I probably wouldn't have listened anyway, but now I'm curious. So start with the basics, in the Christian tradition Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth. What is Hanukkah the celebration of?"

"The condensed version of the story is that in the second century BCE, the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was seized by Syrian-Greeks and turned into a temple for the worship of the Greek gods, mostly Zeus. They controlled the Temple for three years before it was retaken by a group of Jews known as the Maccabees. When they had driven their enemies out, they found the temple defiled by the Greek worship rituals, most notably the sacrificing of swine. In order to purify the Temple once more they sought to burn ritual oil for eight nights, but they only had enough oil for one night. They lit the oil anyway and it burned for eight straight days despite it being not nearly enough to do so. This is the Hanukkah miracle and in honor of that we light the menorah."

"Okay, so what about…?"

**X X X X X**

Half an hour later, Quinn knew more about Hanukkah that she would have ever even thought to ask: dreidel games and latke recipes and songs. It occurred to her then that though she'd known Rachel for years and had come to know her rather well over the last year, this side of her was something she'd never seen out of the girl. Rachel was seriously devout in her Judaism.

The girls had the curtains in the front windows pulled back so they could watch the progress of the setting sun still lounging comfortably together on the couch Quinn absently played Rachel's long silky hair. "So I never really realized how much your religion means to you."

"It's not something that I share with everyone," she replied, "To me faith is an intensely personal thing, a commitment between myself and God. It's not really anyone else's business... or at least no one except for those I wish to share it with. I have no desire to convert the world. That isn't God's path for me, so I keep it mostly to myself." Rachel looked up at Quinn and said, "What's funny?"

Quinn hadn't even realized that she was laughing until she mentioned it. "Um, I don't know, I guess it just seems like such an alien concept, Rachel Berry keeps things something to herself. The girl who asked everyone in creation whether or not she should have sex… twice has a private side."

"I most certainly did not ask everyone in creation. I asked the girls of Glee Club because you were my friends, or at least the closest thing I had to friends, and I needed advice. I don't need advice about my religion and if I do, I'll consult a rabbi. I ask for help from those that are best suited to advise me. It just so happens that in lieu of having a mother, on the matter of losing my virginity the best suited were a group of teenage girls," Rachel explained. "The idea that I have no private side is sort of a well cultivated misconception."

"Meaning you over share so that people don't go looking for the things you want to keep to yourself?"

"Exactly," Rachel said.

"Makes sense, I guess. Certainly a better way of dealing with things than being a horrible ice bitch to everyone." Quinn contemplated this new facet of her friend for a couple of minutes. "So is that why you are less verbose with me than you have been in years past?"

"That is entirely possible," she said, "I admit I hadn't really considered it or even noticed that I had become so, but that would seem logical. I tell you the things I ordinarily keep private so it stands to reason that I don't need the walls to keep you out."

Quinn took Rachel's hand in hers and said, "I'm really glad I can be that person to you, Rach. I'm glad that you can trust me with those sorts of things, especially considering all of our history. I'm also glad that you're comfortable enough to let me do this." She held their joined hands aloft.

"It's nice," Rachel said, "I like feeling connected to another person and your hands are the right size. Finn and Jesse's hands were so much bigger than mine, my fathers' too. I always felt like my hands were being engulfed by theirs. Yours and mine feel much more like a joining of equals. It would also seem that I'm something of a cuddler. I find I quite like being held by someone… and if Leah were privy to this conversation we wouldn't be doing anything to disabuse her of her notion of you and me."

"Heh, yeah, I guess you're right," Quinn observed. "I've kind of given up trying to convince her we're not together."

"Really?" asked Rachel, "Why?"

"I don't know," Quinn shrugged, "because it doesn't really seem to be worth the effort. She's pretty set on believing it and there's not really anything we could do to _prove_ to her that we aren't together, short of us spending less time together which I don't want to do. I'm not seeing anyone else so it's not like a rumor is going to get around and cause problems for me, nor am I really looking for anyone that it might cause problems for in the future. I've got plenty on my plate right now anyway with all of my artistic endeavors, so I'm happy just being with myself right now. If I need companionship here and there I've got you and Leah and Kurt all willing to fulfill that need. So if my bored roommate needs or just _wants_ to imagine us in this long distance romance… I could think of much _worse_ people to be linked to than you."

"Awww," Rachel said as she squeezed Quinn's hands, "Aren't you just the sweetest _girlfriend _ever?" Quinn laughed. She loved how playful Rachel could be with her now. So few people got to see that side of her, she was glad that she was one of the few who did. The girls sat in silence for the next few minutes as the last sliver of daylight disappeared below the horizon. "Happy Hanukkah, Quinn."

"Happy Hanukkah, Rachel."

Rachel let go of Quinn's hand and disentangled herself from the blonde girl, stood up from the couch, and made her way over the small table in the window by the door currently adorned with Rachel's empty menorah. Quinn followed her and watched Rachel open the drawer in the table retrieving a pair of white candles and a box of matches. "Many Hebrew traditions are what we would considered backwards," Rachel said. "In most Romanized cultures doing things left-to-right is the standard, but when reading Hebrew one reads right-to-left. It's the same with lighting the menorah," she said placing one candle in the far right holder. "This candle will be lit and we'll use it to light the other candles… or the other candle in tonight's case. This candle is called the shamash, but before we light them there are three blessings to be recited. When I'm done, you light the shamash and I'll light the candle."

"Okay," Quinn said trying to absorb all the information that was being thrown at her in rapid succession.

"My dad will insist on saying them in Hebrew since he's fluent but I say them in English because I don't trust my diction of a language that I do not know," Rachel closed her eyes and began to recite from memory, "Blessed are You, O Lord Our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has sanctified us with Your commandments and commanded us to kindle the lights of Hanukkah. Blessed are You, O Lord our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who made miracles for our forefathers in those days at this time. Blessed are You, O Lord Our God, Ruler of the Universe, Who has kept us alive, sustained us and brought us to this season." Rachel nodded to Quinn who quickly slid open the box of matches, pulled one out, and struck it. She lit the candle in Rachel's hand and she tipped in over sideways to light the candle in the menorah. She then placed the shamash in the raised center position.

"So do you leave them burning all night?" asked Quinn.

"Until they snuff themselves out or until I go to bed," Rachel said, "I'm reasonably certain that God does not wish me to risk a house fire just in the name of saying thank you for the many miracles in this world."

"So is it present time?" Quinn asked with a smile. Rachel returned the smile even more brightly which Quinn took to mean yes so she went to the box she had left sitting by the door which contained an assortment of wrapped presents and pulled out two the same size. When she'd made her way back to the couch Rachel had three boxes sitting in her lap. "I've got one for you and one for your dads," Quinn said.

"I've got one for you and one for each of us from my dads." The girls quickly exchanged gifts. Quinn got a knit scarf from Rachel and leather bound journal from Rachel's dads. Rachel got a pair of woolen gloves from her fathers and picture of Quinn, Kurt, Leah, and her from the Yale Halloween party they'd all attended in a silver picture frame from Quinn. "This is lovely, Quinn. Thank you."

"Thank you for being my Hanukkah tutor."

**X X X X X**

**December 18****th****, 2012**

Quinn smiled at the still sleeping form of Rachel and her massive case of bed head curled up in roughly the same position she had left her half an hour ago. In the intervening time Quinn had placed an order and had received delivery, made coffee, pancakes, and Rachel's weird vegan bacon. She placed it all on a serving tray along with one of the red velvet cupcakes she'd had delivered. Which brought her back to standing over a sleeping Rachel moments before her alarm clock was due to go off.

Soft beeping started rang out through the room for only about twenty seconds before a suddenly wide eyed Rachel turned it off. "Quinn, why are you standing over me like a creepy person?"

Rachel's ability to go from deep asleep to wide awake at a second's notice was nothing short of astounding. Even after having seen it a dozen or so times it was still surprising to Quinn and that would be why she was standing over Rachel like a creepy person. Momentarily, Quinn snapped out of it. "Happy Birthday, Rachel," she said setting the tray on the birthday girl's lap.

"Quinn this looks amazing," Rachel said in complete surprise. "My fathers always made me pancakes for breakfast on my birthday."

"Yeah, you've mentioned that before, and I thought you might like it if I did it for you this year. I mean, I'm not a _great_ cook but I can pull off pancakes pretty well."

"A…and all of this is vegan?" Rachel asked looking hard at the cupcake with the birthday candle sticking out of it.

Quinn had settled down onto the foot of the bed after Rachel had sat up to eat. She looked up at the girl with a skeptical eyebrow hiked. "You know, Rachel, a year ago that would have been a valid question, but now you're just hurting my feelings. I remember that your dads make you pancakes for breakfast on your birthday but I forget that you're vegan?"

"You're right, Quinn," Rachel said quickly, "I apologize. I know that you know me better than that. I just… aside from my fathers, I'm not use to people taking my diet into account, even Kurt sometimes still forgets."

"Well, rest assured, sweetie," Quinn said placing a reassuring hand on Rachel's lower leg, "if I bring you food, it will be 100% vegan friendly."

Rachel smiled softly and said, "Thank you Quinn. Now may I make a birthday request of you?"

"Depends on what it is."

"Come up here and help me eat some of this. This is far more than I can consume by myself."

"I think I can manage that," Quinn said as she scooted herself up to the headboard sitting next to Rachel. "I'm kind of curious what all these vegan substitutes taste like."

"Here start with a piece of bacon," Rachel offered. "But if you think you're getting any of my cupcake you are positively out of your mind." She closed her eyes and blew out the candle.

"It's okay. I didn't have time to run out and they wouldn't deliver just one, so there are eleven more in the kitchen." Quinn took a bite and said, "Yeah, that's not bad. It's not as good as real bacon, but then nothing is."

"You and your bacon," Rachel rolled her eyes. She'd never admit it but Rachel actually felt horribly guilty for loving the smell of real bacon when she and Quinn had breakfast. She still refused to eat it of course, but it was tempting. "So where's my present?" Rachel asked with a smile.

"Did your dads give you your presents with breakfast?" Quinn asked as Rachel offered her a mouthful of pancakes

In between bites Rachel replied, "No, they would always take me out to dinner somewhere nice and if it was feasible to give me their gifts at the restaurant they would, otherwise it would be home waiting on me."

After Quinn had swallowed the mouthful, she replied, "Then I guess you know where your gift is."

"You're taking me out?" Rachel asked, so surprised that she forgot her manners speaking with a mouth full of food quickly clapping her hand over her mouth in embarrassment.

Quinn laughed at her and replied, "Unless you've got a better offer." Rachel, mouth still full of food still with a hand clasped over her mouth, shook her head vigorously. "Okay, good. Then in that case, dress pretty because we're going somewhere _very_ upscale."

**X X X X X**

After breakfast and a shower, Rachel spent the next few hours fielding and returning birthday phone calls from her dads, from Kurt, Mercedes, and Blaine all back in Lima, from Finn at Fort Collins where he was stationed, from Leah still in New Haven, from her Nana in Florida. Even Puck managed to find a payphone and enough change to call from wherever his band was playing that night. Quinn couldn't help but notice that this supposedly unpopular girl had a lot of people calling to tell her happy birthday. She laughed and chatted and basked in the attention that she loved so much with a giant smile on her face.

After a simple lunch Rachel had voice coaching which Quinn would have tried to Rachel into skipping just this one time since it was her birthday, but Quinn knew that Rachel actually enjoyed her voice lessons and she also didn't have anything else planned for them until that evening. While Rachel was out Quinn went over the pictures from their trip to the park to see if there was something worth presenting in a show.

Rachel arrived home around 4:30 with a box in her hands. "These were delivered today. There's no return address on them."

"Them?" Quinn asked seeing only the one package.

"Oh yes," Rachel said pulling a manila envelope from her purse and handing it to Quinn, "This came for you. Like the box it doesn't have a return address and I don't recognize the handwriting. I'm considering contacting Homeland Security. It could be anthrax or a container of sarin gas."

"That really won't be necessary. It's Leah's handwriting," Quinn remarked, "What would she be sending you? She didn't get me a present for my birthday and I'm her roommate." Rachel walked into the kitchen to locate a knife to cut the box open, as she did so, Quinn discretely opened her envelop and seeing that it contained what she expected it to she stuck it out of sight and out of mind.

Rachel produced a fairly large Tupperware dish out of the box. _"Happy Birthday, Rach. I'm sure Q has something awesome planned for her ba…"_ Rachel rolled her eyes and continued reading, _"her baby. Here's a little something to hopefully make the night more _fun_." _Rachel set the letter aside and opened the dish. "Oooh! Brownies," she said retrieving one of them from the bowl.

"Don't eat that," Quinn said very abruptly.

"Why not?" Rachel asked.

"Because of the very extreme likelihood that those brownies have pot in them, so at the very least keep them until after dinner."

"How could you possibly know that these brownies have marijuana in them? They smell no different than any other brownies," Rachel said as she smelled the bowl.

"They wouldn't, but I know my… I know Leah. Number one, they aren't frosted. Leah likes to get high but she's responsible about it. 'Unfrosted brownies have weed in them, frosted brownies do not.' It was one of the first things she ever said to me when we met. Number two, 'make the night more fun' is code for having sex. Beyond being convinced that we're dating, she's also sure that we haven't slept together yet since in all the times you've come to visit, I've never asked her to crash at a friend's. She probably thinks we're going to do it tonight. The brownies would be to loosen inhibitions and make things run smoother."

"And it doesn't have a return address…or postage," Rachel noticed, "because she didn't send it through the postal service. She hired a courier. Crafty." She put the brownie back in the bowl. "Have you ever had any of Leah's unfrosted brownies?"

Quinn nodded slightly, "A couple of times, yeah. Why?"

"What's it like?"

"It's… I don't know, it's…" Quinn shook her head and shrugged her shoulders, "I really don't know how to describe it. It's fun. With brownies you don't really get so high that you crash afterward. You eat a couple of them, you get buzzed, you spend a few of hours laughing at things that aren't necessarily funny, you go to sleep. Why, you want to try the brownies out?"

"I must admit that I am somewhat curious," Rachel said completely surprising Quinn, "Drug use is a frequent topic in many forms of performance. I may, at some point, be called upon to act as though I am high. Having gotten high at some point in my life would facilitate that. Relatively speaking, marijuana is the safest way to go about that, but I didn't want to risk trying to buy it since it is illegal and I also didn't want to smoke it and risk damage to my voice. This would seem to solve all of my problems. Would you eat them with me?"

"Are you kidding me? Getting to see Rachel Berry high? I'm pretty sure I'd pay good money to see that."

"I don't know if I want to do it tonight or not. I think I'd like to actually _remember_ my birthday," Rachel said.

"Okay," Quinn said, "No pressure."

**A/N: So basically, I hate the way the show more or less ignores Rachel's Judaism. That's why we have a prolonged trip to Hebrew School. There should be two more chapters of this.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"**

**A/N: Sorry once again for the delay. Blame David Fincher and Stieg Larsson. I saw The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo just after New Years and read all three books over the next two weeks and now I'm on a huge reading kick. I'm going to finish this story up in the next week or so. It should only be one more chapter… maybe two, not sure yet. For those that read my other stuff, after this story is done I'm going to knock out the rest of Keeping the Creed and then hopefully finally get back to "By Chance" and "You Can Do Better"**

**Christmakkuh in New York**

Sometime in the course of the conversation about the brownies, the sun had set and eventually Rachel noticed. This time both girls recited the blessings as Quinn lit the shamash and Rachel lit three candles. They exchanged Hanukkah gifts once again. The girls shared a laugh as they both got each other the new Adele CD. Quinn got a new James Patterson novel from Rachel's dads. They got Rachel a Star of David necklace with topaz insets.

Afterwards the girls took turns showering. Rachel went first as she had the busier day. Quinn had in fact not left the apartment all day. Once Quinn heard the shower running and she was sure Rachel was in, she pulled out the envelop Leah had sent her. Opening the manila envelope she fished out the smaller white envelop within. She couldn't help noticing it was thin. It contained at most two or three sheets of paper folded over themselves. She wasn't sure if that was good thing or a bad thing. It could go either way, she guessed, neither acceptance nor rejection took up a lot of paper.

Quinn just stood staring for a long minute at the sealed, thin envelope that would determine her fate. Finally, in a flurry of motion, Quinn tore it open, pulled the contents free letting the envelope fall to the floor, and unfolded the two sheets of paper. She looked straight ahead, the paper out of her line of sight. She took a deep breath and quickly read the top sheet and slowly let out the breath and began to chuckle. She quickly read it again just be sure she hadn't just seen what she wanted to see. After a third fast read through, a smile broke out on Quinn's face a mile wide and she had to stop herself from shouting. She quickly read the second page of the letter and somehow managed to get even happier. She quickly refolded the letter and retrieved the envelope and stowed it back in her purse just as she heard the shower shut off.

Quinn grabbed her stuff from Rachel's room and crossed paths with the brunette who informed her that the bathroom was all Quinn's. Knowing Rachel as she did, Quinn figured she had plenty of time to enjoy the shower while Rachel went through her post-shower routine, so she opted to do just that. A long hot shower was just what the knots in her shoulders needed. Between the relaxation and the music blaring from Rachel's bathroom radio Quinn managed to lose herself and before she knew it half an hour had passed. Quinn raced along through the rest of her routine. A further ten minutes later she finished up and stepped out of the shower with the water still running loving the way the bathroom felt like a sauna. She took a towel to her hair as "Marry the Night" by Lady Gaga came on the radio. She started dancing and singing along with her towel over her head heedless of her surroundings until a stiff chill hit her from the direction of the door. She pulled the towel out of her face to find the bathroom door standing wide open and Rachel in the doorway, her mouth hanging wide open. "Rachel?" Quinn said. She didn't move, just stood a blinked. "Rachel!" Quinn said again as she wrapped her towel around herself. Rachel shook off her daze. "Shut the door please."

"Sorry," she said softly as she backed out of the room pulling the door closed.

"You can come in, Rachel," Quinn called just before the door closed completely, "Just close the door when you do."

"Sorry," she said once more, "I was just going to grab my toothbrush and brush my teeth in the kitchen sink. I thought since the shower was still running that I would be safe to just pop in, but…"

"You got distracted by something?" Quinn teased.

Rachel blushed and looked down retrieving her toothbrush, "Why am I the one embarrassed by this scenario? Why are you not more embarrassed?"

"I don't know why you're embarrassed," Quinn said, "but I'm not embarrassed because I spent two and a half years as a cheerleader. I showered with twenty other girls six days a week during that time. You lose any sense of modesty about your body pretty quickly in that environment. I'm not necessarily in love with the way I look, but I'm not ashamed of it either."

"Well, that's good," Rachel said with a mouth full of toothpaste, "because you certainly have nothing to be ashamed of."

The brunette bent over the spit into the sink. Quinn quirked her eyebrow up, not quite sure what to make of the comment, but after a moment she opted to take it as an innocuous compliment. "Thanks," she said.

**X X X X X**

Thirty minutes and four changes of Rachel's clothes once she saw what Quinn was wearing later, the girls headed out for Rachel's birthday dinner. Since Quinn's car was still in New Haven and she refused to tell Rachel where they were going, they took a cab and as soon as Rachel realized they were headed for the theater district her face lit up, and when they stopped in front of Vista Dalla Cima, an Italian place that supposedly had an amazing view of Broadway the look of surprise on Rachel's face was epic. She was surprised so far beyond what words could adequately express.

They were led to their table, a window seat on the upper tier of the restaurant, and Rachel only stopped staring at Quinn in amazement to stare out the window in amazement. The much talked about view was indeed something to behold and the sight of Broadway at night was one of Rachel's absolute favorites in all of New York. Quinn just stared at the look on Rachel's face and was proud of herself for putting it there. "So I don't really want to put a dampener on your moment," Quinn said, "but I also don't want you to get your hopes up for nothing. Your present isn't tickets to a show tonight. I wanted to but this was the only time I could get reservations and it's already 7:30 now. I don't imagine we're going to be served, eat, and be down there in thirty minutes."

Rachel, still with a huge grin on her face, said, "I understand, Quinn, and although attending a show tonight would be wonderful, I simply cannot be disappointed in the face of this amazing view as well as the great company. I honestly don't need anything else."

"Oh really?" Quinn said with a smirk. She pulled an envelope out of her purse and set it on the table, her fingers still perched atop it. "Then I guess you won't be wanting this then?"

"Ah, watch your words there Quinn," Rachel said with an excited smile, "I said that I didn't _need_ anything else, not that I did not _want_ anything else or that I would not _graciously_ accept anything else given to me."

"Okay," Quinn said picking the envelope up again and offering it to Rachel. Rachel accepted it and opened it delicately and slid the contents out and her eyes lit up. "I don't have tickets for _tonight_, and I know Wicked is your favorite and I wanted to get tickets to it but apparently the guy that originated the role of The Wizard is coming back for a three month stretch and it's all sold out."

"I got tickets to that," Rachel said, "four of them on March 22nd. I hope you can make it then."

"I'll make it happen," Quinn said, "but anyway, I couldn't get Wicked, so I got these."

"Memphis: The Musical, I've not seen it yet," Rachel said smiling brightly.

"Really?" Quinn asked, "I'm kind of surprised, although I guess I shouldn't be. If you had seen it, you'd have undoubtedly talked my ear off about it at some point which I don't recall."

"It's something I've been meaning to see," Rachel said, "I've just been busy with school and lessons and monthly trips to Yale, and you've never expressed any interest in musical theater before so I never thought to invite you while you were up…" Rachel noticed something as she inspected the tickets. Wait January 6th? I thought you were only here through the third. Are you going to drive back down or the second ticket for Kurt?"

"That bring me to the next thing…"

"There's a next thing?" Rachel said excitedly.

"It's not another gift," Quinn said, "just another topic of discussion, big news to share with you. In all the discussion about the brownies you may have forgotten that Leah sent me an envelope as well."

"I didn't forget," Rachel said, "I just knew that you would tell me what it was when and if you wanted me to know." Quinn looked at her somewhat surprised. "What? I'm working on being less nosey and intrusive. You should be happy for me and not giving me skeptical looks."

"I am happy for you," Quinn said, "I am also skeptical." Rachel rolled her eyes as Quinn smiled. "It was an acceptance letter," she said at last.

"Acceptance letter? To the photography exhibit?" Rachel asked.

"No," Quinn said, "It was the acceptance letter I needed before I could get into the exhibit." Quinn fished the letter out of her purse and unfurled it setting it on the table between them.

Rachel picked it up and her eyebrows knitted together like they always did when she was reading intently. A moment later she looked up at Quinn and said, "NYU?"

"Surprise," said Quinn.

"You're transferring?" Rachel asked.

"Well, it would be kind of silly of me to go to all the trouble of getting accepted and _not _transfer."

"But why?"

"Um, because it's NYU," Quinn said.

"But you're already at Yale," Rachel said.

"I know," Quinn said, "and Yale's a great school with a great drama program, but it's not a good match for me. Actually, more precisely New Haven, Connecticut isn't a good match for me."

"What's wrong with New Haven? It always seemed nice when I've visited," Rachel said.

"Yeah," Quinn said, "you remember all those art exhibits and art house cinemas we visit when you come down?"

"Um, no," Rachel said puzzled.

"_Exactly_," Quinn said. "I want to be surrounded by art and culture, neither one of which is in New Haven, both of which are here. Also in New York that isn't in New Haven, my best friend."

"Oh God, Quinn," Rachel groaned momentarily burying her face in her hands, "Please don't say things like. That stupid little self-centered girl that I've tried so hard to stop being hears things like that and focuses on them and all I hear is that you're moving here to be closer to me. Then the woman I'm trying to become tells me to argue with you and talk you down from this course of action."

"Well, I can't honestly say that you have _nothing_ to do with my decision Rachel, because you are a part of it. NYU is a great school with a great arts program and I love New York so no, I'm not moving here strictly because of you. If you got cast in some huge Hollywood movie tomorrow and had to move to LA or wherever I wouldn't follow you there, but the fact that my best friend lives in the city I want to move to that's a huge plus in my book. I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable but I hate only getting to see you every other weekend. I… If I'm having a bad day or you are or whatever, I don't want us to have to wait until that evening to call the other to gripe about whatever's bugging us and have it ruin our whole day. I want us to be able to shoot the other a text saying, 'Hey come meet me for coffee. I need an ear.' I want to be able to hang out at your place in the middle of the week for no other reason than because I can, because my place is only a few minutes away by car or subway instead of an hour and a half in good traffic."

About halfway through Quinn's monologue Rachel began smile not her big, beaming Rachel Berry Superstar smile that she'd perfected in the mirror by the age of twelve but rather her authentic "I'm touched" smile where her lips are pressed together and she usually looks down before chuckling just slightly. "When you paint a picture like that, it is kind of hard to argue with you."

"And NYU is a great school," Quinn said, "I could give you a laundry list of very successful alumni. I thought about applying last year but I wasn't sure if my mother would go for it and I think I missed the filing deadline before I came to my senses."

"And your mother will go for it now?" Rachel asked.

"I don't need her permission now," Quinn replied, "either legally or psychologically. Last year I did."

"So you said something about your own place. You don't want to just move in with Kurt and me?"

Quinn shook her head and said, "Maybe in the fall, if Blaine winds up coming here and he and Kurt want to move it together, but for now that apartment isn't big enough for the three of us, not permanently anyway. It's fine while I'm just a guest, but I think if Kurt and I were fulltime roommates in that place we'd wind up killing each other."

"You are both somewhat territorial and there isn't a lot of territory over which to fight."

"Exactly," Quinn said.

Eventually their food came and as they ate they talked about which classes Quinn wanted to take and ideal meet-up places between NYU and NYADA and where they thought Quinn should live. Rachel, of course, had several ideas to maximize Quinn's efficiency in her day, which inevitably led to Quinn agreeing to take Rachel apartment hunting. After dinner, Quinn asked if there was anything else Rachel would like to do for her birthday offering to hit up a club since she knew that on certain occasions Rachel really enjoyed going dancing. Rachel declined thinking that vigorous activities after a heavy meal like they'd just eaten could end badly. Instead she opted to return home and cuddle up on the couch and watch, what else, Funny Girl.

**December 20****th****, 2012**

Two days of exhaustive apartment hunting later Quinn and Rachel found themselves crashed out on the couch once more. They had looked at no less than ten places today and more the day before. In a dramatic act that Rachel couldn't help but appreciate, Quinn collapsed in a heap just inside the door when they got home. She eventually made it to the couch where she was once again joined by Rachel. "I take it all back," Quinn said weakly, "I'm not going to let you help me apartment hunt after all. You're insane."

"I'm determined," Rachel countered.

"You're getting even with me for how I treated you in high school," Quinn said, "running me ragged all over the city."

"While the weather would have been appropriate for it, revenge was not my intention and in point of fact that wasn't all over town that was just things within a one mile radius of NYU."

"I hate you," Quinn said.

"You love me," Rachel countered confidently taking Quinn's hand once again.

"Maybe," Quinn said, "but that's beside the point."

"So my fathers will be here tomorrow afternoon," Rachel said.

"So you've told me," Quinn said.

"The brownies have to be gone by then," Rachel continued, "Either eaten or thrown out. Daddy has a nose for chocolate and I would rather keep my experimentation with illicit substances on the down low. Somehow I don't think they'll keep until after New Years."

"So are we eating them or throwing them out?"

Rachel was quiet for a little bit before saying softly, "I think I want to eat them."

"You don't sound very certain about that," Quinn said, "We don't have to if you're not comfortable with it. I can make another batch some other time."

Rachel squeezed Quinn, "Thank you, Quinn," she said, "I think that was what I needed to hear to be sure. I want to try them, but we should probably eat first dinner first, not to mention Hanukkah since I don't imagine lighting candles while high is the safest thing to do."

So once again they lit candles and exchanged gifts. They ordered pizzas, mushroom and artichoke heart vegan special for Rachel and pepperoni and bacon for Quinn. They ate their fill and then Rachel retrieved the bowl containing the night's deserts. Settling down on the couch, Rachel laid out two paper towels. She pulled the lid off of the Tupperware bowl and quickly divvied the brownies up, six total, three each. "That seems like a lot of brownies," she said, "does it take that many?"

Quinn could plainly see that Rachel was nervous. "No," she said, "I usually eat one and let it take effect. It takes a little while, and then I nibble on another one over the course of the next hour or so to keep going, although, that really has more to do with the chocolate content of them than the drug content. I don't have a huge sweet tooth really."

"God, I do," Rachel said, "but even still that seems like a lot of brownie." She gingerly picked up one of the treats and brought it up to her nose to sniff it. Quinn just watched her examine the thing. Rachel noticed that she was being watched and flushed in embarrassment. "I'm… I'm nervous."

Quinn just smiled at her and said, "I couldn't tell."

"Shut up," Rachel said smiling back.

Quinn stuck her tongue out at Rachel and suddenly realized that she hadn't done that to anyone in years and chuckled at herself for suddenly turning into a little kid again. Quinn reached over to the coffee table and picked up one of her brownies and waited to follow Rachel's lead in consumption. She wasn't going to go first because she had no desire to be high around Rachel if she backed out.

After another couple of minutes of contemplation, Rachel visibly swallowed and then took a very large bite of brownie. She bore a look of serious contemplation as she slowly chewed on her mouthful as though she were a judge on Top Chef making the call between the last two competitors rather than a girl trying marijuana laced baked goods. "How do they taste?" Quinn asked.

"Three days old," Rachel replied around a mouthful of half chewed brownie covering her mouth with her hand.

"Oh yeah? Wonder how that could be," Quinn replied taking a bite from hers. Rachel was right, though, the brownies tasted much like they always did with the added difference of them being a little bit stale, but whatever… no one eats pot brownies for the taste. Quinn swallowed and took another bite just about the time Rachel took another huge chunk out of hers. Quinn was maybe an eighth of the way through her brownie and Rachel was now over halfway into hers. "It's not a race Rachel and if you choke to death before the effects set in…" Rachel stuck her tongue out at Quinn complete with little bits of brownie stuck to it.

Half an hour later, the giggles started, softly at first and then growing steadily louder. Rachel laughed at literally nothing, at least nothing external, and couldn't stop long enough to explain what it was that was so funny to her. After about ten minutes of constant laughing on Rachel's part, Quinn resolved the issue by sticking another brownie in Rachel's mouth.

Twenty minutes past the giggling with another half of a brownie consumed, Rachel was sitting cross-legged at one end of the couch her back against the arm rest facing Quinn, who was reclining against the other arm rest legs stretched out across the couch her feet curled up beside Rachel with Rachel's right hand on Quinn's lower leg just above the ankle. "Do you _know_, Quinn? Do you _even_ know? Do you have _any_ idea?"

"About what?" Quinn asked smiling and stifling laughter at her friend.

"Do you even _begin_ to understand how utterly beautiful you are?" The earnestness in Rachel's voice was so palpable that Quinn had to fight not to laugh at her. In that moment it was clearly crucial that Rachel make Quinn understand that this was true. "_Do you_?" Rachel said, "Do you _know_?"

"I've been told a few times," Quinn said, "at least couple of times by you, no less."

"Of course you have," Rachel said, "Everyone tells you because everyone _should_ tell you because it is exceedingly true, but that is not what I asked you, Quinn. What I asked you is do you _know_ how beautiful you are? People can say things all day long, but that does not mean that you know them to be _true_. Just as an example you and Santana use to call me Treasure Trail but as you can see," Rachel pulled her top up and almost off before running her fingertips over her lower abdomen, "I do not have a line of hair from my navel to my vagina. So you see that there is a difference between someone _saying_ something and _knowing_ it to be true, thus I ask _again_, do you know, do you _appreciate_, do you comprehend, do you grasp, do you perceive, do recognize how _extremely_ gorgeous you are?"

Quinn's efforts to not laugh at Rachel died shortly after Rachel's shirt got yanked up to her shoulders in order to demonstrate the lack of hair below her navel. The fact that she didn't then lower it before going into living thesaurus mode just made Quinn's howls of laughter even louder. Quinn waved her hand down several times as she struggled to regain her composure long enough to speak, "P-pu-pu-put your… hehe… Put your shirt down, Rachel. I don't need to see your boobs."

"What's wrong with my boobs?" Rachel said looking down at her chest. She brought her free right hand up to quickly feel each of her bra-clad breasts in turn, apparently checking to see that they were still there and still as she remembered them.

Quinn sat up and took Rachel's left hand off the garment and physically pulled the garment back down Rachel's torso smoothing it out a little. "There's nothing wrong with your boobs, Rachel, not that I can see anyway. I just don't want to stare at them all night."

"Oh," Rachel said with what Quinn could only call a hint of sadness in her voice, "I guess I see your point, but do not think that I have forgotten that you have yet to answer my question."

"Yes, okay," Quinn said, "I know that I am very pretty."

"Do you know that you are a lot more than that?" Rachel followed up quickly.

Quinn laughed again very briefly, "Yes, Junior-Prom-Night Rachel, I know that too and thank you for invoking that horrible, embarrassing encounter."

Rachel shrugged and said, "I just choose not to think about the less pleasant parts of that evening. We both looked great, we danced and had fun with our friends…"

"You kicked Christina Perri's ass on 'Jar of Hearts'."

Rachel nodded. "And you and I took our first tentative baby steps towards becoming friends," she said, "The other things, the student body being horrible to Kurt, us quarreling over a boy, and… well they don't matter."

"That's a good attitude to have," Quinn said.

"Quinn, can I tell you a secret about that night?" The words poured out of Rachel so quickly that it took Quinn's brain a moment to separate them. "It's something I've never told anyone, not even my fathers."

"Rach, you can tell me anything," Quinn said reassuringly.

Rachel bit her lower lip before she spoke again barely above a whisper, "That night, Junior Prom Night, with us in the ladies room," Rachel fell silent for a moment, her gaze fell as she continued, "well, you just looked so pretty and so heartbroken that you hadn't won, and I-I-I…" Rachel paused to lick her lips before saying, "I really wanted to kiss you." The confession hung heavy in the air for a minute before Rachel worked up the nerve to look up to find Quinn smiling sweetly at her. "I-I just had the overwhelming urge to comfort you, to make you feel better and for whatever reason my primary instinct was physical. It that weird to hear? I shouldn't have told you that, should I?"

"Let me tell you a secret," Quinn said, "That night, Junior Prom Night, with us in the ladies room… I'd have let you."

"Really?" Rachel said.

"I'm pretty sure I'd have let you do a lot more than just kiss me, actually," Quinn said, "My emotions were running so high and so out of control, _obviously_, that if they'd turned that direction that I doubt I'd have been able to control myself. That's why I'm glad that it was you that came and found me instead of Finn or Puck or even Santana or Brittany. If it had been one of them, I might have wound up doing something I really regretted."

"But what, are you too good to do something you would regret with me?" Rachel asked.

"I just told you I would have," Quinn said, "But _you_ wouldn't have wanted to… certainly not in the school bathroom anyway."

Rachel made an exaggerated shutter at the thought of that and then smiled, "I like sharing secrets with you. Can we share more? I want there not to be secrets between us. Best friends don't have secrets from one another. Tell me another secret, Quinn."

"Who says I have any more?" Quinn asked smiling.

"Everyone has secrets," Rachel said, "Tell me."

"I think it's your turn," Quinn said.

Rachel's eyebrow knitted as her eyes went up as she replayed the course of events so far. "Very well," Rachel said. She paused and looked down momentarily. She clicked her tongue. "Oh I know," she said, "I had sex with Finn."

"What?" said Quinn, "When?"

"Opening night of West Side Story," Rachel said, "and few times after that."

"Oh," Quinn said face palming momentarily, "You mean last year. I thought you meant recently and I was thinking that Georgia is a long way to go for sex. But, okay, yeah, I'm sorry to tell you that that is less of secret than you think it is."

"What?"

"Finn told Puck. Puck told everyone," Quinn said, "Not that it wouldn't have been pretty obvious to everyone if he hadn't. I mean, really, Rach? Without You?"

"Shut up," Rachel said her cheeks reddening, "I did not mean it 100% literally, that my life is worthless without him. He had… had just gotten some very upsetting news and I wanted to lift his spirits. Okay, so not a secret that we slept together. How about this? I do not understand what the big deal is about sex."

"I use to say the exact same thing," Quinn said.

Rachel's eyebrows shot up, "Until?"

Now it was time for Quinn's cheeks to redden rapidly. "Um," Quinn said, "until I had good sex."

"And when was this?" Rachel asked, "And why exactly am I only just now hearing about this? Are we not best friends? Are not best friends supposed to talk about things like this?"

"I… yeah, we are," Quinn said, "It was the end of the second week at Yale, a week before you came up for the first time, before we started spending countless hours on the phone. I mostly talked it out with Leah and when you came down I didn't really feel like rehashing it, and after that it kind of never came up. It was a total one night stand and it's over and done with now."

"Really?" Rachel said with some amusement, "The President of the Celibacy Club had a one night stand within two weeks of escaping Lima?"

"Never going to live down the Celibacy Club," Quinn said.

"So it was good, you said?"

"I cannot believe we're talking about this," Quinn said, "but yes, it was good, very good actually."

"But he is not looking for anything serious and cannot be tied down and blah blah blah, because he is an idiot?" Quinn just nodded a little. "What's his name? I may have to track this boy down and explain to him at great length how incredibly stupid he is for not wanting to be with all the awesomeness that is Quinn Fabray, although you are obviously better off without him since he's either ridiculously stupid or on some manner of influencing substance since he can't see it for himself."

"You know, with anyone else I'd just say that you aren't going to do that, but with you I actually have to say, please _don't_ do that," Quinn said.

"Okay, fine," Rachel said, "But you still have to tell me his name so that I can make fun of him properly."

"_His_ name is Katherine," Quinn said.

Rachel's scrunched up momentarily in confusion before her eyes finally went wide in realization and she said, "You had a one night stand _with a girl_?"

"Why are you surprised? I just told you that I'd have had sex with you on Prom Night," Quinn said.

"Okay, but that was a hypothetical moment-of-desperation, emotionally out of control situation which by the way you said would have been a mistake," Rachel said. Quinn noticed something in her tone of voice like Rachel wasn't quite sure if she was confused or angry, "Hearing that you actually went through with it is… I don't know, it's different." She paused only momentarily before saying, "I'm going to make some tea. Would you like some?"

Quinn thought she heard something else in the sudden shift in subject. She tried not to worry about it thinking it was probably just the effect of the drugs on her to be so suddenly non-sequitur. "Please," she replied to Rachel's question.

Quinn's eyes stayed on Rachel as she walked into the kitchen, filled the kettle with water and put it on the stove. She was playing out a conversation in her head as she made various facial expressions and wagged her head and gesticulated. Quinn had no idea what but something was clearly going on in Rachel's head. She watched as Rachel gathered a pair of tea cups from the cabinet along with sugar, milk, and honey, placing it all on a tray. A few minutes later when the kettle whistled she brought it all into the living room. She set the tray on the coffee table. "So do you want to watch a movie or something?" Rachel asked as though the previous conversation hadn't happened.

Quinn was now thoroughly lost with her. "Uh, okay," she replied.


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"**

**A/N: Okay, so there will be one more chapter after this one. I thought I might do it all was one but this one was already getting a bit long, so one more for sure. Hope everyone's still enjoying.**

**Christmakkuh in New York Part 4**

**December 21****st****, 2012**

The arrival of Hiram and Leroy Berry ate up the majority of the following day… or at least Rachel seemed to believe that it should. She set out to clean the whole house, room by room. The problem with that plan was that this was Rachel Berry's apartment; it was already clean and not just clean but spotlessly so. Therefore Rachel's insistence otherwise couldn't really be seen as other than the least artful attempt at dodging and deflecting ever conceived. And yet it worked… strictly through sheer determination on Rachel's part, of course, but it worked.

Quinn tried her best to assume that Rachel's manic behavior was more to do with the impending arrival of Rachel's dads than anything to do with things that were said the previous night. Unfortunately for Quinn, she knew the Berry men. She'd gotten to know them some senior year of high school and had attended a Thanksgiving dinner at their house only about a month ago. Quinn knew that all of this hyper-scrutiny over the cleanliness of the house wasn't necessary. The Berry house wasn't even as clean as the apartment was before Rachel started, which was not to say that the Misters Berry were messy, just that Rachel was verging on Emma Pillsbury levels of cleaning.

Okay, so Rachel was avoiding her or at least avoiding talking to her, Quinn could see that but she figured everyone had the right to a little privacy with their thoughts when they wanted it. Quinn knew from personal experience that avoiding the thing that's bothering you wasn't really the best way of dealing but she also knew that explaining that to Rachel wasn't likely to help. Strictly speaking, Quinn didn't even know for sure why Rachel was avoiding her. Of course it had _something_ to do with things that they had said the previous night under the influence, but kind of a lot had been revealed and Quinn didn't know if it was any one thing that had been said or a combination of things. Hell, for all Quinn knew it was the fact that they got high at all that had Rachel so upset.

Quinn also knew that she couldn't force Rachel to talk about what was bothering her. You couldn't, in fact, force her to do anything she didn't want to do, talking least of all. It was ironic, of course, given how much time Quinn had spent in her life wishing that Rachel would stop talking.

Their flight was scheduled to arrive at JFK at 1:30, so of course Rachel insisted that they arrive no later than 1:00. They made it there just slightly ahead of schedule at 12:57 only to find that the Berrys' plane had been delayed by an hour, so now they had some time to kill. "Coffee?" Quinn asked as she spotted the Starbuck's kiosk just down the way.

"You read my mind," Rachel replied.

Moments later the girls were in line waiting for their turn to order when Quinn thought maybe it was time to broach the subject of the awkwardness. "So do we need to talk about last night?"

Rachel shook her head dismissively, "There's nothing to talk about."

"Really," Quinn asked, "because I'm pretty sure you spent all morning cleaning an apartment that didn't need cleaning in the first place. You've barely said ten words to me today. I usually get that many before we even get out of bed in the morning, so are you _really_ sure there's not something we need to talk about?"

Rachel studied the threads of her scarf at length not talking for several minutes. "You know me, Quinn. With the exception of my fathers you know me perhaps better than anyone… maybe even better than them given the nature of our early relationship and your own history with bullying. Unlike them you do not know every detail of the formative years of my life but you know and to a large extent you understand my patterns of behavior."

"I do," Quinn said.

"Then you know that I have to prepare for everything," Rachel said, "I never perform without rehearsing. You've lived with me for almost two weeks now. You know I sing all the time, I take voice lessons, and I'm going to school all in the service of being on Broadway. Please pardon my ego in asking this but aren't I already an exceptional singer?"

"Of course you are," Quinn said and then pointed to the barista in front of them. The girls quickly ordered and found a seat. "You know you're an amazing singer, Rachel. What's that got to do with last night?"

"My voice, my talent is the thing in my life that I feel most secure about," Rachel said "and even at this I feel that I need to work very hard to be completely prepared. The things that were said last night I am not even close to certain about and yes, obviously, there are some things we need to talk about… after I have prepared myself for that particular conversation."

"So all of this is your extraordinarily roundabout way of saying that you're not ready to talk about it yet?"

"Yes," Rachel said simply.

"You know you could have just said that, right?" Quinn said. Rachel just nodded. "And whatever it is that's on your mind, you can tell me, okay?" Rachel cast her eyes down again but Quinn tipped Rachel's chin back up silently asking Rachel look at her. "Whenever you're ready," Quinn said, the significance of those words wasn't lost on Rachel.

"Thank you, Quinn."

**December 22****nd****, 2012**

"Back in Lima, the Hudson-Hummel house was 1.1 miles from my fathers' house," Rachel said. She and Quinn were lying in Rachel's bed in the early light of day. Nothing more had been said of the previous day's discussion or the confessions of the night before. Usually Quinn would be up making coffee by now but she'd found herself wrapped up by Rachel's deceptively strong arms so she'd laid there for almost fifteen minutes watching her sleep peacefully. When Quinn had reached down to brush some of the hair out of Rachel's face, she'd accidently bumped her and Rachel's eyes popped open and out had come this factoid.

"You can be very random in the morning," Quinn said.

"It's not random," Rachel said, "It's a fact that is important for you to know in order for you to fully understand something."

"Okay," Quinn said.

"The Hudson-Hummel house was a very nice house, very well appointed as you would expect having been largely decorated by Kurt. The couches and chairs were all very comfortable, they had a nice entertainment system on which to watch movies or TV. Burt and Carole are wonderful people, very inviting. And both my boyfriend and my best friend lived there," Rachel said.

"Right," Quinn said.

"A single dwelling contained two of the most important people in my life, it was just over a mile from my home, and I almost never went there," Rachel said. "They almost always came to me, to my house to hang out or in the case of Finn to go on dates. From these facts we can determine that I am selfish and self-centered."

"Rachel," Quinn said.

"Less so than I once was," Rachel conceded, "but still I am."

"You are not," Quinn said.

"I am," Rachel said, "you just don't see it anymore because I'm on my best behavior around you. Now, I wouldn't drive just over a mile to see both Finn and Kurt, but now that Kurt and I live together once a month I drive almost 140 miles round trip to come see you and do so gladly. I mean, these trips were _my_ idea."

"We don't see each other every day at school anymore," Quinn said. "Things are different when we scatter all over for college. You have to make more of an effort to see your friends all the time."

"Which is almost exactly word-for-word what I told myself for the last five months," Rachel said, "however, now I think it is something else… actually I'm quite sure of it. We frequently make long road trips to see each other. We sleep in the same bed cuddled together. For over a week now you've slept in my bed when Kurt's is empty right next door."

"Do you want me to go sleep in Kurt's bed?" Quinn asked.

"No," Rachel replied quickly, "and that's my point. I think I just got the wrong idea about what it meant."

Quinn gave her a quizzical look, "What did you think it meant?"

"I thought… I mean we spend so much time together and we have all this fun. You gave me this wonderful birthday at a great restaurant. You said that you quit arguing with Leah about whether or not we're together because you said you could do much worse. We sit cuddled together all the time and we hold hands. Is that just something that girl friends do? That is to say something female friends do. I obviously know that girlfriends do it," Rachel said. "I'm asking, honestly because I don't know. I've never had a platonic female friend like you before, Quinn."

"I, um, I don't know either," Quinn said, "I think my perception of what platonic friends do might be massively skewed because of who my friends were. So you…" Quinn was pretty sure she knew where this conversation was headed but it was far too early to be making assumptions.

"I just can't help but look back to high school and think that no matter how mean you were to me I never hated you. I never even disliked you for any length of time. Nor did I ever get the sense that you truly disliked me. All of your hostility towards me always seemed, I don't know, forced I guess, like it was part of the image that you tried so hard to project, top girl picks on outcast, so to speak. I'd be mad at you when you said something horrible but I still didn't dislike you. I still sought your friendship. I was _elated_ when I finally got it. That conversation outside the principal's office after Sectionals last year I was sort of secretly jumping for joy that you were going to be nearby. You said that being nearer to me was a big part of your decision to move to New York. I thought that we were on the same page that we were both developing deeper feelings for one another but we weren't quite ready to act on them yet because of the distance, because we wanted to make sure it wouldn't ruin our friendship, and… because it was both of our first times with other girls. I thought we were building up to taking that step together."

"And then I told you about Kat," Quinn said.

"Yes, and I'm sorry for getting upset at you about that," Rachel said, "You didn't deserve that. You did nothing wrong and I should have seen the evidence in front of me but I think I latched onto what I wanted to hear, like I _always_ do. You said that you would have let me kiss you on Prom Night, and well, more than that too, but I just fixated on that and ignored the evidence of your true feelings and again I'm sorry."

"What? True feelings?" Quinn said confused, "What evidence?"

"As I said I should have seen it, you said you didn't want to live with me, you said you didn't want to stare at my chest, you said that kissing me would have been a mistake. You were telling me that you like girls but not me, not like that anyway. I should have realized that. It's not like you've really shown any indication otherwise. I just kept cherry-picking things that I thought meant something but now realize they don't and I get it. I know I'm not pretty like you and I'm obnoxious…"

Rachel was suddenly cut off by Quinn's hand over her mouth. "Rachel, stop," Quinn said, "I know you made me promise to stop saying this but I'm going to have to go back on that promise for your own good. I am so deeply genuinely sorry for all the things I said and did to you to make you feel like you are not pretty, because you are. You are beautiful and talented and amazing in every way and any guy or girl would be lucky to have you." Rachel smiled and blushed but said nothing. "Secondly, let's get some facts straight. I don't want to move in here because your apartment's not big enough for three, certainly not for me, you, and Kurt. I _never_ said kissing you at Prom would have been a mistake. I said that if you hadn't found me I might have done something I regret. In this case the thing I would have regretted would have been having sex out if despair to try to make myself feel better, instead of as an expression of love or affection like sex is supposed to be. I didn't want to stare at your boobs because I didn't want to be creepy. We were having a conversation. I didn't mean to imply that you were not worthy of being stared at. You have very nice boobs, better than mine."

"Thank you," Rachel said blushing hard.

"I'm sorry we got our lines crossed," Quinn said, "I honestly never got the impression that you felt this way. I usually have better gaydar than that."

"You never thought that the child of two gay men would have been raised to be open to sexual fluidity?"

"Being raised to be open to something doesn't mean that you actually are, and I don't know… you were always so boy crazy in high school," Quinn said.

"I could say the same about you," Rachel countered.

"The difference," Quinn said, "is that you actually cared about the _boys_. I cared about status. Finn, Puck, and Sam were all on the football team. That's why I dated them. You actually cared about the person under the letterman jacket. You didn't care when Finn was off the football team junior year. I'd have been pissed."

"So are you saying that you don't like boys at all? Are you gay?"

"You don't mess around with the tough questions, do you?" Quinn said.

"I generally see no point in beating around the bush," Rachel said with a smile.

"Clearly, since we're having this big serious discussion before either of us have had their morning coffee," replied Quinn. She inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly before continuing, "My honest answer, Rach, is that I don't know. I've had one bad encounter with a guy and one good one with a girl. I don't think either experience is enough to define my sexuality."

"A perfectly valid answer," Rachel said, "I suppose then the question to ask is, are you… would you be willing to explore it further… with me?"

Quinn took a minute to try to read Rachel's intentions. "I don't want to just hook up with you, if that's what you're asking. Our friendship is too important to me to risk for sex."

"But you would consider dating me?" Rachel asked the hope in her voice evident. "You said that any girl would be lucky to have me. Were you including yourself in that statement?"

"I was and I would," Quinn said, "but I need to _consider_ it, okay?" Rachel looked like she was starting to deflate. "It's got nothing to do with you. Like you said, I have to know that this won't ruin our friendship. I've never had a friend like you, either and I have to be certain that this won't change that. You've had some time to get your head around it. I've had twenty minutes."

Rachel took her words in and thought them over for a couple of minutes. "That's reasonable," she said at last, "Although when you do eventually cave and we tell people how we got together I'm going to edit this part of the story to say that you accepted immediately."

"Fair enough," said Quinn with a smile.

Rachel finally sat up and said, "It occurs to me now that there was something I neglected to do this morning before I launched into the speech I spent most of yesterday composing in my head."

"Coffee?" Quinn asked also sitting up.

"Well, yes, that too," said Rachel, "but also this." Rachel swiftly crushed her lips against Quinn's pushing her back down to the bed. The combination of surprise and admittedly very enjoyable sensation knocked the breath out of Quinn and for a long moment she simply lay there limp allowing Rachel to kiss her. Rachel's lips were soft yet strong and Quinn couldn't deny that they felt good pressed against hers. When Rachel didn't let up Quinn finally surrender to the feeling and kissed back one hand finding the nape of Rachel's neck the other the small of her back and pulling Rachel against her hard. Rachel let out the most adorably sexy little sigh Quinn had ever heard. She broke off the kiss and smiled as Rachel's lips continued to press against hers for another minute. Quinn let go of Rachel as she sat up struggling to suppress a smile. "I'm sorry," she said.

Quinn couldn't help but smile as she said, "No, you're not."

"No, I'm not," Rachel said no longer fighting it, "Not even a little."

"Nor should you be," Quinn said, "but it doesn't change the fact that I need to think about this."

"I didn't expect that it would," Rachel said, "I just wanted to see what it was like."

"Kissing a girl?"

"Kissing Quinn Fabray," Rachel corrected, smiled and added, "I'm overdue for some coffee."

Rachel quickly climbed off the bed and headed for the door. "Hey, Rachel," Quinn said, "One more thing." Rachel looked back at Quinn. "Selfish, self-centered people don't spend several days baking thousands of cookies and then give all of them away to the less fortunate." Rachel just blushed in response.

The girls had their morning coffee along with a light breakfast. They were due to have brunch with Rachel's dads before the Berry men went to go explore New York City. They'd only been out once before when they'd helped Rachel move back in the summer and hadn't had time to do much in the way of sightseeing. They'd only had two days in town and spent most of it getting Rachel unpacked and set up in their apartment. The rest of the time they'd spent exhausted from helping Rachel unpack and set up. This time they were out to enjoy the city.

After breakfast, Rachel went to get in the shower and Quinn returned to Rachel's bedroom to locate her cell phone. She found it, of course, right where she'd left it, in her new charging station that she'd gotten from The Berrys for Hanukkah last night. Quinn punched out a quick text that said: _Time to talk?_

Thirty seconds later her phone was ringing. She answered and before she could even say anything the voice on the other end came over, "What up, bitch? Tell me how bad Christmas in Lima sucks," Santana said, "cuz me and Britts were thinkin bouts doing Christmas on the fucking beach. It's 75 fucking degrees three days before Christmas, Fabray. What do you got a foot of snow it looks like."

"More, actually," Quinn said, "since I'm not in Lima. I'm in New York."

"With Kurt and Berry?" Santana said, plainly jealous, "And ya'll are probably going to Times Square on New Year's Eve, I bet. Damn it, Q, I was trying to gloat and now you've got me all jealous and shit. So what's up? You just calling to wish your oldest and dearest a Merry Christmas?"

"Actually, I need some advice," Quinn said, "and by advice, I don't mean snarky sarcasm."

"You called the wrong bitch then," Santana said, "Cuz Auntie Tana's gots the advice but the snark comes with it, so you can suck it up and deal with all the awesomeness that is me or you hangs up and call Tina and listen to her whine about Mike, your call, Q Ball."

"Okay, fine," Quinn said, "I need… What's it like to date your best friend?"

"It kicks fuckin ass," Santana said, "Britts and me… Wait, you're not asking about us. No. Fucking. Way. You and Berry finally decided to stop fighting it?"

"Fighting it?"

"Q, Q, Q," Santana repeated, "Come on now. Don't act like I didn't figure you out years ago. With the drawings in your notebooks and the looks when she was singing in Glee and the looks when she was singing to _Finn_ in Glee Club and you two getting into the epic fights over this thoroughly mediocre guy. Wake up, Quinn. And, okay, between you, me, and the wall, I kinda get it, a little bit. I mean she's kind of secretly hot and if she's at all like me, getting the hell out of Lima has done wonders for her self-esteem and she probably calmed the hell down by like a thousand percent."

"Who are you trying to convince to date her, me or you?" Quinn said.

"Fuck off," Santana said, "Alright, listen up. You want to know how to date your best friend without ruining your friendship in the process? I got you some advice and it's probably the last thing you ever expected to hear from me, but here it goes. You gotta talk about shit, like all the fucking time. You and me, Q, peas in a fucking pod and talking about our feelings doesn't come naturally so you gotta make yourself. Me, I'm lucky. I got Britts, the most easygoing, forgiving, understanding supportive person in the world. No matter have bad I've treated her she'll always forgive me anything. I know how lucky I am. I don't presume to know Rachel anymore. I know we all change a lot when we move away from home, but I doubt she's as easygoing as Brittany is… or even anywhere close, really so you're gonna have to work that much harder to deal with shit. It took me a long, long fucking time to figure this out so take my word for it. Just, basically, don't be afraid to feel the way you feel and don't be afraid to talk about it with the girl you love."

"I think it's a little soon to be throwing that word around," Quinn said.

"Fucking whatever," Santana replied, "Like you two weren't put on this fucking Earth for each other."

Quinn smiled and said, "That's… actually really sweet of you to say, Santana."

"Yeah, well," Santana said, "tell anyone but Britts I said it and I'll deny it. Speaking of, she just walked in. Hold on a sec. I'm sure she'll want to say hey."

Quinn waited patiently for several minutes hearing muffled bits of a conversation between her friends before presumably the phone was handed over and Brittany said, "Q?"

"Hi Brittany," Quinn said.

"Merry Christmas, Q!"

"Merry Christmas, Britt," Quinn said.

"So you and Rachel are finally getting together?"

"She wants to," Quinn said, "I'm still thinking about it."

"Did you kiss her yet?" Brittany asked.

"Actually, she kissed the hell out of me this morning," Quinn said.

"Was it awesome?" Brittany asked, "I always thought Rach would be fun to kiss. Her lips always looked so soft."

Quinn found herself smiling yet again. It seemed to be a common occurrence when she thought about kissing Rachel. "I think it may have been the best kiss I've ever had."

"Awww," Brittany said, "So dating a friend, it can be like really scary because you don't want to screw it up and lose your friend, too, but if it works out then it's like really, really great cuz you get to wake up with your best friend for the rest of your life." Quinn contemplated what Brittany said for a minute. "I think you and Rach would be really great for each other, Quinn, y'know if you decide to go for it."

"Thank, Brittany," Quinn said.

"You're totally welcome," she replied, "It's always great to hear from you, Q, but San's itching to get her sexy times on so unless you want to listen in, I'm gonna have to go."

"No, that's okay," Quinn said, "You guys enjoy yourselves and I'll talk to you later."

"Oh we always do," Brittany replied, "Tell Rach we said Happy Hanukkah."

"Bye, hon," Quinn said.

"Bye, Q."

"Hon?" Rachel said.

Quinn nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound of Rachel's voice. She hadn't even noticed the shower shutting off nor heard her come in the room. "Brittany and Santana," Quinn said.

"Oh, how are they," Rachel asked retrieving clothes from her closet.

"In the process of getting naked and sweaty," Quinn said, "so, you know, must be going pretty well."

"Indeed," Rachel replied.

"Sooooo," Quinn drew the word out, "This hypothetical date. What did you have in mind and when?"

"When would be the day after tomorrow," Rachel said with a smile.

"Christmas Eve?"

"Yes, my dads have plans to have a romantic dinner at a nice restaurant in the early evening," Rachel said, "I think they really just want to be able to be an out couple on a date and for once not have to deal with peoples' dirty looks. It would seem logical that you and I could do something similar at more or less the same time. So Christmas Eve, 6 pm. As to what I have in mind, hypothetically, you would just have to find out when we got there."

"Okay, then, I'll do that," Quinn said.

"You will?" Rachel said, the excitement in her voice was adorable and Quinn couldn't help but smile at it.

"Yeah," Quinn said, "I'd love to."

**A/N: So apparently I cannot help but put Santana in everything I write. **


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"**

**A/N: Okay, so I know I keep saying this but there's going to be one more chapter after this. The date was all supposed to be one chapter but it was getting on the long side so I split it up. The next chapter is definitely the last chapter.**

**Christmakkuh in New York Part 5**

**December 23****rd****, 2012**

"Hiram, Leroy?" Quinn said walking into Rachel's kitchen where the men were in serious prep mode for the evening's meal. Tonight was the last night of Hanukkah and Hiram's family had a tradition of doing a big meal to celebrate the final night. Had they been back in Lima there would have been a small contingent of other family members from Hiram's side to join them but none of them could make the trip to New York. Leroy hadn't spoken to his family in over two decades. They hadn't accepted him when he'd come out. So it was just going to be the four of them that night.

"What's up, Quinn," Leroy said.

"I was wondering if I could interrupt for just a minute," Quinn replied, "There was something I wanted to talk to you about."

"Yeah, of course," Hiram said quickly wiping his hands on the World's Handsomest Cook apron he was wearing, "What's on your mind?" Leroy silently motioned to the kitchen table and they all settled down into chair around the table, Hiram across from Quinn with Leroy in between at the end. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, no, everything's fine," Quinn said, "I just wanted to talk to you guys because," she paused to clear her throat, "because Rachel's asked me out on a date and I said yes, and I just wanted to talk to you about it in hopes that you'd approve, or at the very least don't object. I know traditionally Rachel would be the one asking my parents since she's my suitor, but they aren't around and even if they were, they'd never approve. That's okay by me, because I don't care what they think, but I know your opinion matters to Rachel, _a lot,_ and I know that she and I having your approval would mean the world to her."

The men studied Quinn silently for a long moment before turning their attention to one another. Minute facial expressions seemed to convey entire paragraphs between the two men as they quickly had an entire conversation without either man opening their mouth. Quinn had witnessed this before on a couple of occasions with them and she couldn't help but smile how well they seemed to know and understand one another.

Quinn had come to love being around them as there was always a sense of love and affection that surrounded them wherever they went. She also couldn't help but enjoy getting to know them because it just went to re-enforce how very wrong about life her own father was. These two men weren't an abomination or an insult to God. They plainly loved each other more than any two people Quinn has ever met, and that was what God ultimately wanted for all people. They certainly hadn't done irreparable damage to Rachel by raising her in their home without a mother. If anything, Rachel's mother had done her far more harm than anything Hiram and Leroy Berry had ever done. Rachel's dads had done nothing but give her all the love and support she could ever need or want and always told her that she could do anything she'd set her mind to. Most days Quinn wished they were her fathers as well, and who knows, if this thing with Rachel worked out… but then she was getting _way_ ahead of herself there.

"We've never objected to anyone Rachel's dated," Hiram said.

"We've never approved, either," Leroy followed quickly.

"No one's ever come to us and asked for our blessing," Hiram said.

"Which is good," Leroy said, "because they wouldn't have gotten it." So it was clear Leroy was taking the role of Bad Cop tonight, which was only about as intimidating as your average blood thirsty shark. Quinn knew it was an act, knew Leroy was actually a huge teddy bear and yet she still couldn't help being put on the defensive by it.

"What if we didn't approve of you?" Hiram asked.

"What would you say to that?" Leroy asked.

Quinn was about 95% certain that they didn't actually disapprove and that they were testing her so she steeled her shoulders and said, "I'd say that is certainly your prerogative as her fathers and considering how much Rachel has been hurt in the past and considering the bad history between us, I'd say I understand where you are coming from. I'd also say respectfully that your lack of approval doesn't change anything, that Rachel and I are adults who make our own decisions, and that I was hoping for your approval not asking your permission."

Leroy's poker face cracked first as he began to chuckle before he said, "That's a good answer, Quinn." The men shared another one of those looks that conveyed a whole conversation in the blink of an eye. "You know, Quinn," Leroy began again, "I only speak for myself when I say this, but from the time I first met you I knew I liked you. Despite everything that had transpired between Rachel and you, I knew I liked you. You were polite and smart, sarcastic like me, and you weren't intimidated by me, which is pretty rare."

"Not for nothing Leroy but after Coach Sylvester, you're kind of a puppy dog," Quinn said.

"Fair enough," he said with a shrug, "Anyway, I liked you from the start and I was glad that you and Rachel made friends. I thought you'd be a good friend for her. I mean, we love Kurt and he's great for her too, but they're both dreamers. You're more of a realist. You help ground her just enough to keep her from flying away entirely. It's kind of like flying a kite. You keep her from disappearing into the clouds and she keeps you looking up. If you two want to date, _I_ certainly approve."

"Thanks," Quinn said with a smile, "That means a lot… and not just to Rachel."

"Quinn, I want to ask," Hiram said, "and you can tell me it's none of my business, but I want to ask, how long have you had same-sex tendencies? Is this new? Are you experimenting?"

"The newness of it has been a matter of some debate," Quinn said, "I became _aware_ of my attraction to girls shortly after I got to college, but some of my friends seem to think it goes back further than that, but either way I'm not exactly settled on a sexual identity so yes there _is_ a certain amount of experimentation going on. Rachel's aware of that and she says she's okay with it."

Hiram nodded the whole time she speaking. When she stopped, he spoke again, "I ask you see because Rachel has identified to us as bi-sexual but also told us that she was nervous at the prospect of dating another girl, so for _her_ to ask _you_ out is a big step for her. I, well, we just worry about her getting hurt and retreating back into just dating boys and possibly missing out on something because she's scared. That's not to say that I think you are going to hurt her…"

"No, please," Quinn said, "You've every right to be concerned about that. I'm concerned about it. Rachel's my best friend, the closest friend I've ever had, so taking this step with her it's kind of scary but I think it's worth it."

"And you're sure that you're ready to take that step?" Hiram asked.

"As sure as I'm going to be until we take it," she said, "and even if tomorrow night goes wonderfully and we start seeing each other regularly, I'm still always going to be a little bit worried about ruining things between us but I'm not going to live my life in fear of what if's. If nothing else, I love Rachel as a friend. I have as little desire to see her hurt again as you do and even less desire to be the one that hurts her. It won't happen on purpose and I'll do my damnedest to make sure it doesn't happen by accident."

"That's all I can ask," Hiram said, "Just one more thing to mention and I'll stop torturing you. You know Rachel is _really_ high maintenance, right?"

"Yeah," Quinn said with a smile, "that fact has popped up a time or two over the years. I am prepared to deal with her divatude when it rears its head."

"If you're sure, then I don't object. Final approval is being withheld until I hear that you treated her like the princess that she is on your date," Hiram said.

"Thank you guys," Quinn smiled, "Is there anything I can do to help with dinner?"

"No, we got it," Leroy said.

"It'll be dark in about an hour," Hiram said, "Dinner will be shortly after that. Just go relax until then."

Quinn took their advice and headed back to Rachel's room. As she opened the door she heard the scuffling of feet across the floor and she found Rachel perched on the edge of her bed trying and failing to act nonchalant. Quinn couldn't help but think that if Rachel was ever going to make it on Broadway that she was going to have to get a lot better at hiding her excitement. "Hey, Rach, dinner's going to be ready in about an hour," she said, "Do you want to watch a movie or something until then?"

"I… really, Quinn?"

"Yeah," Quinn said flatly, "you like movies. I like movies. Seems like a perfectly reasonable thing to do to pass the time."

"Quinn, what were you and my fathers talking about?"

"Nothing terribly important," Quinn said. She was going to school to be an actress too, after all, so she thought she'd give Rachel lessons on controlling her emotions.

"Seriously, Quinn? Nothing important?" Rachel was bordering on indignant at this point. "You yourself have pointed out that this is a relatively small apartment, you know."

"So you were eavesdropping on my private conversations?" Quinn asked teasingly.

"Not intentionally," Rachel said, "I left the room to go to bathroom and heard you say that I'd asked you on a date and that you were seeking their approval. I quickly retreated to my bedroom, without using the facilities might I add, to await the results of the conversation, so please tell me before either my head or bladder explodes."

Quinn grinned at her as Rachel glared back at her staring daggers at Quinn. After a couple of minutes of making Rachel squirm, Quinn finally broke and said, "Leroy approves, Hiram's reserving judgment until you tell him how the date goes."

Rachel jumped quickly off the bed with her arms over her head and then suddenly clenched her thighs together. "You're amazing, Quinn," Rachel said pressing a kiss to Quinn's cheek, "Thank you for doing that. It was incredibly sweet of you. Now if you'll excuse me…"

**December 24****th****, 2012**

Quinn and Rachel's cab came to a halt in front of St. Patrick's Cathedral. Deciding that turnabout is fair play, Rachel refused to tell Quinn any of the details of their date beforehand and knowing where they were going she didn't want to have to mess with finding a parking space. "We're here," Rachel said an extremely excited smile on her face.

"I assume," Quinn said, "that you aren't taking me to church." Rachel pulled a page out of The Quinn Fabray Playbook and cast a look at her with one raise eyebrow. "So we're going to Rockefeller Center then. Are we going ice skating? Is that what's in the bag?"

Rachel climbed out of the cab towing a gym bag behind her and Quinn followed. Rachel quickly paid the driver and wished him a Merry Christmas. Once that was done she turned her attention back to Quinn and said, "Amongst other things but first I want to walk around and have you tell me about all the art."

"Am I your date or your tour guide?" Quinn teased.

"Oh please," Rachel scoffed as she pulled Quinn into the stopped traffic to cross Fifth Avenue. Quinn had long since gotten use to Rachel's ignoring the pedestrian crossing light insisting that no true New Yorker paid them any attention. "Don't act like you don't love that you know about all this stuff or that you love talking about art." They reached the other side of the street alive and unscathed and Rachel said, "Tell me about this statue."

"This is Atlas," Quinn said. She pointed back across the street and said, "That's St. Patrick's and we just walked across Fifth Avenue. How have you lived in New York this long and don't know Atlas?"

"Quiiiiiin," Rachel whined, "I know it's Atlas, but that's all I know about it. I like when we go to art exhibits and you tell me all about the things we see. You speak so passionately about the things you like and even about the things you don't like. It reminds me how smart you are and I like that because… well, you know, I've never dated anyone who was actually intelligent before." Rachel linked her arm through Quinn's one hand coming to rest on Quinn's biceps the other interlocking itself with Quinn's hand. She leaned her head on Quinn's shoulder. "It's one of the things that most attracted me to the idea of being with you, the fact that we could have actual conversations about complex things. So will you please tell me about Atlas?"

Quinn smiled at the complete adorableness of Rachel in her knit cap, her stripped coat and the warm polyester scarf around her neck clinging to Quinn's arm for dear life. Rachel shouldn't be allowed to ask her things when she looked like that because who could say no to that? "Atlas was sculpted by Lee Lawrie and installed in 1937. The bronze sculpture is fifteen feet tall. The whole thing is 45 feet tall and a little known fact… if you look over here." Quinn guided them back sort of behind the statue. "If you look there," she pointed, "the apex of the North-South axis points at The North Star."

Rachel smiled and said, "See, would never have known that if not for you. But wait, isn't north that way?" Rachel said pointing up Fifth Avenue with a nod of her head so as not to let go of Quinn. "Why is the North Star not north?"

"Well, now you've segued into Astronomy and Cosmology," Quinn said, "Which I know nothing about. I just know art and I know that Atlas' globe points at Polaris, the North Star… in as much as a sphere can actually point at something."

**X X X X X**

"And here we have…"

"30 Rock!" Rachel interjected.

"…30 Rockefeller Plaza, the GE Building better known to the world now as 30 Rock," Quinn finished. The girls had taken their time walking all around the Plaza with Quinn explaining as much as she knew about each piece that they had come across. She found she really enjoyed impressing Rachel with her knowledge of art.

"'Wisdom and knowledge shall be the stability of thy times'," Rachel said quoting the passage on the sculpture.

"Isaiah 33:6," Quinn said, "This piece is called Wisdom and it's also by Lee Lawrie, the guy who sculpted Atlas. Carved in limestone and cast in glass with polychrome pain. Beside Atlas, it's the most iconic piece and it's my personal favorite."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Any particular reason?" Rachel asked.

"It… looms," she said, "It just owns the space, you know. You can't not notice it. I mean, it's pretty hard to not notice Atlas and Prometheus too, but they're out in the open for all to see. Wisdom is all the way up there. You should be able to look down while walking into the building and not look at it but there's… I don't know there's something about it that commands your attention."

"Sort of like a certain former cheerleader that I know," Rachel said. Quinn just chuckled slightly in response. "You ready for the best view in all of New York City, Quinn?"

"Top of the Rock?"

"Top of the Rock," Rachel echoed.

Somewhere past the 30th floor on the interminably long elevator ride something occurred to Quinn, "Crap, I wish you'd told me we were going here. I'd love to have my camera with us."

"Quinn," Rachel said, "are you forgetting with whom you are on a date?" Rachel unzipped the black gym bag she had been lugging with her ever since the taxi. She reached in and pulled out Quinn camera bag handing it over. "Ye of little faith."

"I should never have doubted you," Quinn said, "I'm sorry, I'll remember in the future." She set about checking the camera, making sure the battery had a good charge, making sure that she had cleared off the memory card after the last batch she'd taken when Hiram and Leroy had first gotten into town and the night they had spent out doing touristy things, and finally checking to make sure the lens was clean. She quickly took a test shot of Rachel who smiled on instinct whenever a camera was pointed at her.

Thirty plus floors later the elevator doors opened onto the observation deck of the building and both girls said "Wow" at the same time. Rachel strode quickly out to the railing to look out at the much fabled view. Rachel had come here a couple of times before but never at night and as they say there's nothing like New York City at night. Quinn snapped pictures as Rachel went following her slowly. "God, I love New York," Rachel said, "How did I ever spend eighteen years of my life in Lima, Ohio?"

"Torturously," Quinn said. She moved to catch Rachel's profile as she stared out at the nighttime view of the city they both loved.

"I love this view," Rachel said, "It is so beautiful."

"Not as beautiful as mine," Quinn said as she snapped a picture of Rachel's profile and a couple more as she turned to look at Quinn.

"Quinn Fabray, are you flirting with me?" Rachel asked trying and failing once again to hide her excitement.

"I'm allowed to, right?" she said, "We are on a date after all."

"Of course you're allowed to," Rachel replied no longer hold her excitement in, "In fact, since my intended goal for the evening is to get you into a romantic headspace with regards to me, as long as you stay sweet, rather than sleazy or perverted, about it you should even feel _encouraged_ to flirt with me. I quite like it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Quinn said. Over the next ten minutes Quinn took more pictures, many of the skyline at night, mostly featuring Rachel.

"We need a shot of both of us," Rachel said suddenly. Rachel looked around the deck until she found a well-dressed man who looked to be a couple of years older than she and Quinn, tall and lean with dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. He appeared to be alone so she made her way to him quickly. "Hello," she said to him, "I'm terribly sorry to bother you but I was hoping to ask you for a tiny favor. My name is Rachel, Rachel Berry."

She stuck out her hand, and after just a moment he took it, "Hi Rachel Berry, I'm Antonio," he said shaking her hand a little, "I know I know I don't look like an Antonio, but it's the name my parents gave me. Anyways, what can I do for you this beautiful Christmas Eve?"

Quinn had never been one to be subtle about her jealousy when it flared up. Now she was about ready to punch this guy already. Rachel, as if reading Quinn's mind, looked back at her to give a look that plainly said 'Calm down.' "This is Quinn," Rachel said gesturing to her, "She and I were wondering if you would be so kind as to take some photos of us against the skyline."

"Oh," he said, "You don't want me. I crap with a camera, but let me go grab Marcus. He'll gladly take your picture all day long."

"Thank you. I would appreciate that," Rachel replied. Antonio walked down to another guy, presumably Marcus, who was taller and slightly more muscular than Antonio, said something to him gesturing back to Quinn and Rachel, and soon the pair were back. Antonio introduced them all quickly. Quinn instantly relaxed about the whole Antonio flirting with Rachel thing as one sentence out of Marcus' mouth and it was made abundantly clear that he was gay and watching the two of them together it was likewise obvious that they were together.

"So you want me to use your camera?" Marcus asked. "Yours is a lot nicer than mine." Held up a small camera that was slightly more advanced than your standard point-and-shoot that most people owned but not much.

"Do you know how to use a DSLR?" Quinn asked.

"I've had some practice," Marcus replied, "Just can't really justify spending the money on one right now. Photography's just a hobby for me."

Quinn nodded, "I understand. Mine was a graduation present." She handed over the camera and sighed internally when Marcus handled the thing reverently. She walked over to stand next to the rail. Rachel joined her standing next to her, both girls wrapping an arm around the other's waist.

"So," Antonio asked, "special night, I mean, besides it being Christmas Eve and all?"

"First date," Quinn and Rachel replied in tandem.

"Are you sure?" Marcus asked.

"What do you mean? Of course, we're sure," Rachel said reflexively.

"Okay," Marcus said, "Well, you're doing the side-by-side friend hug, so you just didn't strike me as a couple on a date. If this to commemorate your first date, let's have a little more contact here ladies, Quinn put your arms around Rachel." Quinn took a step back and to her right placing herself between Rachel and the barricade and wrapped her arms around Rachel from behind. Marcus took a few pictures like this and then said, "Okay, that's better but I'm still getting like Lame Prom Date out of you now. Aren't you happy to be out on a beautiful night like this together in the greatest city in the world?" They both nodded. "Okay, then, both of you, rotate about ninety degrees to your left." This had the effect of getting Quinn out from behind Rachel. "Okay, good, now Rachel, turn around to face Quinn."

When Rachel complied Quinn could see the look of concern on her face. She studied the look intently for a moment before saying, "I'm happy to be here with you, Rachel, on a beautiful night like tonight in the greatest city in the world, _very_ happy, in fact." Rachel blushed in embarrassment over her doubts and buried her face in Quinn's chest and Quinn tilted her head back to chuckle.

"That's more like it," Marcus said. He started firing off photos. Within moments of the sound of the camera ringing out, Rachel instincts kicked in once more and she was smiling bright as the sun. Quinn laughed even harder at Rachel's ability to switch emotions on a dime. After about the thirtieth or so picture like this, just because she felt like it, Quinn leaned in and kissed Rachel gently on the temple. "There you go," Marcus said, "Give your girl a kiss."

Antonio spoke up at this saying, "Marcus, it's their first date. They may not have…"

"All the more reason to do it now," Marcus countered, "Who wouldn't love to have a photo of their first kiss?"

"It's too late for that," Rachel said with a proud smile.

"Well, then," Marcus said, "lay one on her."

"Quinn is that…" Rachel was cut off in the best way imaginable with Quinn's lips pressed against hers. The sound of Quinn's camera taking picture after picture was little more than a faint whisper to them.


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I own neither Glee nor any part thereof. No money is being made off of this story and is intended only for entertainment purposes; therefore it falls within the parameters of "Fair Use"**

**A/N: So there's going to be one more chapter… no, there's not. This is the last chapter but it just seems like that's how all of my Author's Notes have gone for this story. I saw no reason to break tradition with this one. This chapter is fairly long (not "Story of Us" long mind you, but long for this story) but I was determined not to split it again. Thank you to everyone who has read/followed and big thanks to everyone who reviewed. You guys helped keep me motivated more than you know. As I've said before, the plan is now to finish "Keeping the Creed" and then get back to my more open ended stories. Hope everyone enjoys the finale.**

**Christmakkuh in New York Part 6**

Quinn had never really been one for PDA. She had much preferred to keep her private life private, behind closed doors so to speak, so for her to not only be kissing in public, in a semi-crowded place with a camera firing away, but for her to be doing so with Rachel, her best friend on their first date no less, it was more than a little surprising to her. She knew why she'd done it though. She'd seen the trepidation in Rachel's face when Marcus suggested that they kiss for the camera. She knew that Rachel wasn't sure where Quinn stood with regards to this burgeoning relationship, so Quinn wanted to assure Rachel that she was indeed having a great time, so she'd kissed her before Rachel could even ask if it was okay that they could.

She wasn't sure why they were still going at it a couple of minutes later other than because kissing Rachel felt wonderful. Like, seriously, it was the best thing ever. Previously when Quinn had kissed people her mind had always been on over drive, thinking about what to do, what it meant, and when to stop it. All she could think about now was the sensation of Rachel's soft, full lips against hers… and warmth. It was very cold outside and Rachel's mouth was warm. Rachel's breath was very warm against her cold skin which was suddenly causing another type of warmth in Quinn. She brushed Rachel's hair back behind her ear nominally to make sure that Marcus got a good unobstructed picture of them, but really she just wanted to touch Rachel more, granted it was through her gloves, but still. Quinn's fingers found the back of Rachel's neck while her thumb brushed across her cheek just below her cheekbone.

"Okay, so it's definitely a date," Antonio said mostly to Marcus.

"Uh, yeah," Marcus agreed, "and one that destined for the bedroom from the looks of things."

"Marcus, shhh, don't go putting that kind of pressure on them like that," Antonio admonished.

But the damage was already done, Rachel heard and her lips drew tight as she pulled back from Quinn. Quinn quickly shot her a look to try to convey that she didn't necessarily agree with Marcus but she wasn't sure that Rachel got her message across because she still looked tense and anxious. "Thank you very much for helping us," Rachel said to the men.

Antonio said, "He didn't mean anything by that, honey. He just assumes that everyone is as sexual as he is."

"It's fine," Rachel said tersely before changing the subject abruptly. "Would you like us to take your picture? Quinn is a very talented photographer in her own right."

Marcus handed the camera back to Quinn and said, "Ah, we wouldn't want to impose."

"It's no problem," Quinn said, "It's not an imposition. I love taking pictures."

"And if it were," Rachel added, "then we've already imposed on your night so let us replay that favor."

The men reluctantly accepted and Rachel had them stand just so while Quinn snapped a few pictures. They shared a much more chaste kiss of which Quinn took a few pictures. Rachel got Marcus' e-mail address and not long after Quinn and Rachel were back in the elevator. "It's too bad the Rainbow Room closed we could eat while we're here," Quinn said.

"I'd actually had somewhere else in mind for dinner, somewhere you absolutely will not want to miss out on. It's so incredibly, perfectly you," Rachel said, "However our reservations aren't for a while yet. Are you hungry?"

"Um, a little," Quinn said, "Not like majorly. I might grab something to tide me over. Rumor has it that there's a Jamba Juice in the building. Want to grab a smoothie?"

"Sounds great," Rachel beamed at her.

One interminably long elevator ride and five minutes waiting in line at Jamba Juice later, Quinn and Rachel had procured a non-dairy Strawberry Surf-Rider smoothie to share so as not to fill up before dinner. They walked around the plaza a bit more with Rachel once again clinging to Quinn's right arm. She looked up, something suddenly occurring to her, "Quinn?"

"Hmmm?" Quinn replied her mouth full of straw and smoothie.

"Certain people have complained in the past about my being clingy and needy to excess," Rachel said, "Will you please tell me if I am being that way to you?"

"I will," Quinn said swallowing, "but I don't anticipate that happening."

"You don't?"

Quinn shook her head, "Understand that I don't mean this in a bad way, but you were pretty clingy and needy with me before all this started and it wasn't a problem."

"How could you not mean that in a bad way?"

"Because I don't necessarily think they're bad things," Quinn said, "What the world calls clinginess, is really just wanting to be around someone you care about and I like being around you. I'm moving, in part, so that I can be around you more often. I doubt I'm going to get tired of being around you any time soon."

"Awww," Rachel said squeezing Quinn's arm.

"Plus we wasted three years in high school fighting over stupid boys that weren't remotely worthy of either of us and someday very soon you're going to be very busy with your career and hopefully I won't just be sitting by the phone waiting for a callback myself, so I think we should enjoy as much of this time that we have together as we can."

"God, you sweet talker," Rachel sighed.

**X X X X X**

"How is it exactly that we have the same size feet?" Quinn asked. The girls had finally made their way to the skating rink and were in the process of changing into the skates that Rachel had been carrying around in her bag for almost an hour now. Rachel had already secured her skates, pink with her signature gold stars, while Quinn was lacing up a plain white pair that Rachel had brought for her.

"What do you mean?" Rachel asked.

"I mean I'm at least four inches taller than you," Quinn replied, "Proportionally I should have bigger feet."

"Are you trying to imply that I have big feet?" Rachel smiled.

"Possibly, or that I have small feet. Although, I think a better question is why do you own two pair of ice skates? What were the odds that you would ever need both of them?"

"The white ones were a gift from my fathers, the pink ones from my Nana. I got them the same year and they were both just so pretty that I couldn't decide which to keep and which to return. As you've seen, I'm fairly inundated with gifts for the holidays and as such I didn't particularly _need_ to return either of them so kept them both."

"And you brought them both with to New York?"

"No, the white ones were in Lima," Rachel said, "My fathers brought them here at my request." Quinn looked her with an arched eyebrow. "As you well know, ice skating in Rockefeller Plaza is a staple of Christmas in New York which you said you were eager to experience, so I was going to bring you ice skating whether it was a date or not."

"Okay, full disclosure, I haven't been ice skating since I was fairly young," Quinn said, "I think I was 10 or 11 the last time and I wasn't particularly good at it then so you may have to re-teach me how."

"Very well," Rachel said. She walked delicately out onto the ice taking a moment to be certain she had her balance before turning back to the gate and offering her hands out to Quinn. She accepted Rachel's hands as she took her first wobbly, tentative steps out onto the ice tightening her grip as she moved from concrete to the cold, slick rink. "Find your center of gravity," Rachel commanded. When she was sure that Quinn had her legs beneath her she gently pushed herself backwards which pulled her and Quinn out of the counterclockwise flow of traffic on the rink more towards the center which was less crowded. "You're doing very well, Quinn."

"Because I'm just standing here."

"Be that as it may, Quinn," Rachel said, "It's never a bad thing to be encouraging when teaching someone something." Quinn smiled while her eyes remained fixed on her own two feet. "I'm going to adjust our hands now so don't freak out."

Quinn took a deep breath and said, "Okay."

Rachel let go of the grip Quinn had on her left and steepled their hands together intertwining their hands, Quinn's white knuckles pointed at the sky. She then repeated the process her other hand. Now both pairs of joined hands were held aloft and for whatever reason, Quinn was feeling shaky legged. "Alright," Rachel said suddenly commanding Quinn's attention, "do you remember how to push yourself?" Quinn nodded quickly. "Okay, push us, and never fear I'll steer us away or stop us if get close to running into anyone else. Just focus on you." One more deep breath and Quinn pushed off with her right foot. She and Rachel began to slowly slide across the ice and a moment later Quinn pushed a little harder with her left foot. "Good," Rachel encouraged.

After she pushed off a couple more times, Quinn felt a sudden surge of confidence. She distinctly remembered this being much harder when she'd done it before, but then again when she was 10 or 11 she had still been awkward little Lucy. She hadn't been through years of gymnastics, ballet, cheerleading, and Glee Club. Quinn was considerably more graceful now than she had been then, plus Rachel was a far better teacher than had been her older sister Fran when she was little. "This is definitely a lot easier than I remember," Quinn said finally looking up from her feet.

"I knew you'd get it," Rachel said, "You're far too good a dancer and far too coordinated not to. All you needed was the confidence in yourself. Are you prepared to release your death grip on one of my hands and skate with me?"

Quinn and Rachel, still connected by one set of hands, slipped into the same counterclockwise circuit around the rink that most of the hundreds of other skater were making. The first couple of curves they came to took a bit of effort from Quinn to work out but she got it quickly and they soon fell into an easy pattern. When Quinn finally felt comfortable enough in her skating she looked over and said, "So that Marcus guy kind of freaked you out a little when he mentioned us ending up in bed together tonight, huh?"

"No… I mean, well, yes, but…" Rachel paused to get her thoughts in order. "It's got nothing to do with you. I'm not freaked out at the prospect of having sex with you. You obviously know that you're very attractive. I'm very attracted to you, not just physically but mentally and emotionally as well, or else I'd have never asked you out. I think it was just someone who was a relative stranger being so blunt about things of a sexual nature. Obviously, Noah and Santana have said far, far more vulgar things, but I knew them, it was expected from them. I wasn't expecting it from him. It just caught me off guard is all."

"Okay, good to know," Quinn said, "I just wanted to let you know that I have no expectations of anything like that tonight. I was even going to volunteer to sleep in Kurt's bed for the next couple nights until he gets back."

"While I certainly appreciate your chivalrous offer, Quinn, I assure you that it is wholly unnecessary," Rachel said, "that is unless you're afraid that I'm going to in some way molest you in your sleep."

"You really couldn't molest me," Quinn said with a growing sly smile, "Molest implies that your actions would be in any way unwelcome."

"You're flirting with me again," Rachel said.

"Yeah, sorry," Quinn replied, "That one was a little on the perverted side."

"You can make it up to me," Rachel said, "Let's get off this Merry-Go-Round, get back out in the middle and you can dance with me."

"Anything you wish," Quinn smiled at her, "Provided you can show me how to dance on ice skates." Rachel quickly ran through how to slow dance on ice skates which wasn't really that much different than slow dancing normally is so Quinn picked it up with no trouble, although she was still happy to let Rachel, the more experienced skater and dancer, lead.

The girls danced silently for a long while. They fell into a pattern and eventually Rachel stopped leading resting her head on Quinn's shoulder instead and Quinn's mind drifted back to happy memories of the two of them cuddled up together on Rachel's couch watching movies and TV or listening to music. It then struck Quinn that this moment felt almost exactly the same (aside from the temperature difference), which was odd since she knew that she was harboring serious romantic feelings for Rachel at the moment and all the cuddling, the hand holding was supposed to be platonic, or at least she had thought it was at the time.

Had Rachel been right and they had been falling for each other over the last five months and Quinn not even noticed it? Or was Santana right and Quinn had wanted Rachel for years now? That didn't seem right to her. Objectively, she knew that she'd always thought Rachel was pretty and talented from the first time that they'd met, but she hadn't always wanted to be _with_ Rachel. That had come much later. So it was probably Rachel who was right about them, and Quinn's feelings for Rachel had shifted so subtly over so long a period of time that she hadn't even realized it. That meant something, didn't it? It meant that their relationship was growing out from their friendship rather than eclipsing it. It meant that their friendship would be the basis of whatever came next. That thought made Quinn relax considerably about the risks that they were taking advancing their relationship. She relaxed and smiled and pressed a soft kiss against the top of Rachel's head. "Hey, Rach," she said softly.

"Hmm?" Rachel hummed against her upper chest.

"I just wanted to tell you, I'm really glad I said yes to tonight," Quinn said.

"Tonight's not over," Rachel replied as she lifted her head to look Quinn in the eye, "There's still dinner yet to come."

"I know," Quinn said, "and I'm sure it's going to be great, but I just wanted you to know that even if this was it, even if this was the end of the date, it would still be the best date I've ever been on."

"Is it too soon to ask for a second date?" Rachel asked with a smile.

Quinn smiled back and said, "Definitely not. What did you have in mind?"

"Well there's this sort of event in Times Square," Rachel said trying very hard not to laugh at herself, "I know there's supposed to be live music and some other stuff and there was something about a countdown and a ball. I wasn't very clear on the details but it's sometime next week and I was wondering if you'd go with me?"

"Well," Quinn said laughing at Rachel's silliness, "it sounds interesting. Get back to me with more details and a definite time and I'll say yes or no for certain, but right now I'll say definitely maybe."

**X X X X X**

At ten minutes to nine, Quinn and Rachel's taxi pulled up to the address that Rachel had supplied after a short stop-off at Rachel's to drop off their skates and Quinn's camera. Quinn looked at the sign over the front door and was momentarily confused. She had definitely never heard of this place before. "Baconalia?" Quinn questioned.

"Yes," Rachel said opening her door and climbing out of the cab, "as in, bacchanalia, a celebration in honor of the Greek god Bacchus."

"Rachel, is this a bacon themed restaurant?" Quinn said as she followed Rachel out of the cab.

"Did I or did I not say that our intended dining experience is incredibly and perfectly you?" Rachel said a very proud smile on her face at the look of stunned amazement on Quinn's.

"This is… this is incredible, Rach. I-I have no words," Quinn said as Rachel held the door open for her. They walked inside hand-in-hand. Rachel gave her name to the hostess and they were seated almost immediately. The place was busy but my no means crowded, presumably because it was Christmas Eve. After a quick once over the menu, Quinn looked across the table and said, "Rachel, what are you going to eat? Everything has bacon on it or in it."

"I checked ahead of time, of course," Rachel said, "and they do have a few cruelty free options." Rachel watched as Quinn's face lit up as she scanned the pork heavy menu at all the many and varied uses of bacon. If Rachel were completely honest with herself she was of two minds about coming here since she was a vegan and this place practically celebrated animal slaughter. On the other hand there was the look on Quinn's face, a look of sheer unadulterated delight, much of which Rachel knew to be the bacon but she quietly hoped that some of it had to do with Rachel bringing her here, with the date that Quinn had already called the best she'd ever been on.

Quinn let go of the menu with one hand and laid her arm across the table with her hand resting palm up. She wiggled her fingers silently beckoning for Rachel. A shy smile stretched across her face as Rachel quickly placed her hand in Quinn's. Both of them gripped the other tightly. It was the first time all night that they'd held hands without two pair of gloves between them. "Rachel, you're incredible. You know that?"

"Thank you," Rachel said softly, "You're pretty terrific yourself."

A minute later their server arrived, a tall, full figured brunette named Dina, and said, "Howdy, ladies. What can we get ya'll to drink?"

"Coffee," Rachel said, "with non-dairy creamer and a glass of water."

"Hot tea," Quinn said.

"All right," Dina said, "Do ya'll know what you want to eat or should I give you a minute?"

"I'm ready to order," Rachel said, "Quinn?"

"You go and I'll have made up my mind by the time you're done," Quinn said looking more intently at the menu now.

"Very well," Rachel said, "I'll have the Black Bean Burger with the Fakeon, and are the fries cooked in vegetable oil? I know most restaurants do but this place certainly begs the question."

"Yeah," Dina said, "Just potatoes in vegetable oil with a little salt. No animal products."

"Okay," Rachel said, "then I'll have that and a salad with vinaigrette dressing. Salad first please."

"And I'll have the bacon wrapped pork tenderloin cooked medium well with a loaded baked potato and a salad with the bacon ranch dressing. Salad first please." Dina quickly recited the girl's orders back to them and then went to get their beverages.

"Between this, Hanukkah Dinner last night, and all the Christmas candy that your dads were talking about the other night, I'm going to have to run about five miles to work all this off," Quinn said.

"Or you could pack up all of your belongings and move to a new city," Rachel said.

"Soooooo," Quinn drawled out.

"So?"

"I guess there's something we need to talk about since we've decided that we're going to continue dating," Quinn said, "Being out."

"What are your thoughts on the matter?" Rachel asked tentatively.

"I spent too much of my life trying to live up to other peoples' expectations," Quinn said, "and all it has ever done was make me miserable. I may not be racing home to write my mother an e-mail telling her that I'm dating a girl just because I don't want to hear about it from her. Beyond that I don't really care who knows. Plenty of people already do: your dads, Brit and San, Kurt will know the second he sees us which means that Blaine and Mercedes will know shortly after that. I have no interest in hiding."

"Good," Rachel said, "I feel the exact same way."

"Are you sure?" Quinn asked, "It could be detrimental to your career. I'm pretty sure the number of openly lesbian and bi-sexual actresses working steadily can be counted on both hands...or maybe even just one."

"It's different in the theater world," Rachel said, "Hollywood is a business. Theater is an art forum. It's much more accepting of the LGBT community than is the movie and TV industry. Even if it wasn't, I still wouldn't hide who I am and with whom I am involved. I was raised to be proud of who I am at all times. When my inevitable stardom comes, I won't take out an ad in Variety announcing our relationship or anything as dramatic as that, but I will be taking my beautiful girlfriend to events with me and if asked I will tell the truth about whom you are."

"Well, I know better than to argue with you when your mind is made up," Quinn said.

"As you should," Rachel smiled. Dina returned and brought them their drinks and told them their food would be ready in a few minutes before leaving them again. "So I didn't mean to make assumptions just then when I called you my girlfriend."

"It's okay," Quinn said, "I'm not scared of commitments or of labels. Although I think we should wait about a month or so to make it official."

"Okay," Rachel said clearly confused, "May I ask why?"

"The confluence of dates," Quinn said, "It's nothing to do with you or even us really. It's just that Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, your birthday, Christmas, and New Year's are all within like five weeks of each other. Throwing in our anniversary on top of that is too much."

"I see your point," Rachel said.

**X X X X X**

After the salads before the main course, Rachel excused herself to the restroom and Quinn fished out her cell phone to check the parade of messages that she'd been getting and ignoring all night. Most of them were just Merry Christmas messages from friends and family. There were a few of them from Santana all perverted in nature, mostly about tasting Rachel's Berry. She quickly and succinctly replied to the holiday well wishes, ignored Santana, and then when she was about done she got a message from Leah:

**Leah:** Merry Xmas, ex-roomie. :)

**Quinn:** Merry Christmas, Leah. You'll never guess where I am.

**Leah:** New York City. Damn I'm good at the guessing game.

**Quinn:** Dork. I'm at bacon restaurant. Bacon! Restaurant! :D

**Leah:** With Rachel?

**Quinn:** Yes, with Rachel. Amazingly enough they do actually have vegan bacon.

**Leah:** I'm honestly surprised that the Jewish Vegan would even agree to set foot in a place that focuses its menu on slaughtered pigs. Is she on brownies?

**Quinn:** No, we finished those off the other night, and you really should have warned her about what was in those btw.

**Quinn:** We're at the IHODP because she's trying to impress me.

**Leah: **IHODP? Why?

**Quinn:** International House of Dead Pigs. Because it's a date.

**Leah:** OMG! You FINALLY admit that you're dating? It's a Christmas Miracle!

**Quinn:** LOL, we're not dating. Yet. It's a date, our first in fact.

**Leah:** Really? Like seriously?

**Quinn:** Yes, really, although evidence suggests that I've been occupying space in a river in Egypt for some time now. Possibly since high school if some are to be believed though I don't know that I do.

**Leah:** Well, congratulations. It certainly took you two long enough.

**Quinn:** Thanks.

**Leah:** I'd ask if she was showing you a good time but I know you, you, her, and some cheesy movie on Netflix and you'd be happy

**Quinn:** Fact.

**Leah:** Okay, well, get back to your date Cleopatra.

**Quinn:** Okay, see you in a couple of days.

**Leah:** Peace out.

**X X X X X**

True to her word, Rachel forced Quinn to wait until they got all the way home before Quinn was allowed to kiss her because she refused to taste Quinn's "animal slaughter breath." In fact, she also required Quinn to brush her teeth and rinse with mouth wash. However, the second the mouth was in the sink, Rachel was on her once again. She broke off the kiss just long enough to say, "Mmmm, minty fresh," before resuming.

Before she even really knew what was hitting her Quinn was pressed up against the wall by the door. One of Rachel's hands was on the back of her neck pulling her down into the kiss; the other had a firm grip on Quinn's right hip. The passion pouring out of Rachel all of a sudden was entirely overwhelming to Quinn. She had only just started getting her head around the way kissing Rachel made her feel and now Rachel's tongue was in her mouth and Rachel's stomach was pressed against hers and Rachel's finger tips were creeping beneath the hem of her top. Quinn definitely didn't want to stop but she wasn't sure that this or what this was progressing towards was the best idea. She was having considerable difficulty reigning in her hormones, especially when Rachel kept giving out these little tiny moans.

First order of business, Quinn decided was to relocate. If she couldn't cool the situation down then at the very least, it wasn't going to happen in the bathroom… not the first time anyway. She groped blindly at the doorknob finally finding it on her fourth try. She pulled the door open and pushed herself off the wall. She also put some space between their bodies to try to combat total sensation overload and possibly regain her good judgment. Quinn placed a hand on either of Rachel's hips and guided them out of the bathroom and towards the living room. Rachel was having none of that, however, and used a combination of her deceptive strength and a surprise attack biting Quinn's bottom lip, which was totally cheating in Quinn's book, to drag them into the bedroom.

Quinn knew she had to act quickly because once they were in Rachel's bed and clothes started coming off and hands (and other parts) started touching things that her resolve would snap like a twig and if they were getting ahead of themselves like Quinn feared, then they could potentially screw up this whole thing. Just inside the bedroom door, Quinn managed to free her bottom lip and say, "Rachel, Rachel, Rachel, slow down. It's not a race."

"Sorry," she said in a voice so husky and full of lust that it make Quinn want to die a little, "I just, I just got so caught up in… well, you."

"I know," Quinn said, "and that's very flattering, but I want you to know that I don't expect anything to happen tonight. There's no pressure to rush things. I don't want us to get ahead of ourselves and do things we aren't ready for."

"I don't feel like you're pressuring me," Rachel said.

"What about you?" Quinn asked, "Do you feel like you're pressuring yourself?" Rachel looked at Quinn but didn't answer. "Look, if you are absolutely certain that you're ready for this and you want me, then, I'm all for it, but if you feel like you need to do this to prove something to me because you think I want it right now or whatever, then no."

"Are… are you sure?" Rachel asked in this tiny little sad voice that broke Quinn's heart.

"Oh, sweetheart, come here," Quinn said enveloping Rachel in a hug as her head dropped down to rest her forehead on Quinn's collarbone. "Sweetie, I'm not Finn. I'm never going to pressure you to do more than you're ready for because if you aren't ready, then neither am I, and I'm damn sure not Puck. I'm not going to break up with you because you aren't willing to move at my pace."

Rachel lifted her head and dabbed at her eyes, "I'm so sorry," she said, "That was very dumb of me to think that. I'm sorry that I thought so little of you."

"Baby, you've got nothing to be sorry about," Quinn said, "There's not a doubt in my mind that we'll get there, not one, and when we do I'm sure that it will be beautiful and amazing, but above all that, please remember that whatever else we are, whatever we're in the process of becoming, you're my best friend, Rachel. I don't want to do anything to ever mess that up. You're… you're like my person."

Rachel didn't seem to get the reference by the confused look on her face, "Explicate, please," she said.

"Not a fan of Grey's Anatomy, I take it?"

"I tried," Rachel said, "and I appreciated the drama, but there was an issue with the bodily fluids and surgery…" Rachel shuttered in Quinn's arms, "Couldn't do it."

"Fair enough," Quinn said, "Basically, it means that you're my other half, my right hand, you're the person I look for to always be there when I need support or a helping hand, the person I can always count on when I need them."

"Quinn, that's… that's maybe the nicest, most flattering thing anyone has ever said to me," Rachel was blushing hard. "As I now understand the definition of it, you are my person as well," she said, "so no sex tonight. Can we go back to making out, because that was pretty fun all on its own?"

Quinn smiled and said, "Abso_lute_ly."

**December 31****st****, 2012**

"You know," Kurt said, "not that it's not indescribably fun to watch you to do that while my beloved is snowed in back in Ohio, but I'm pretty certain that the tradition is for you to kiss at midnight, not to make out all night, before, during, and after midnight. I'm pretty sure that you aren't supposed to fifth wheel your best friend-slash-roommate all night, Ms Berry!"

"You're right," Rachel said breathlessly breaking away from Quinn, "He's right. We're being extremely rude. We should desist this temporarily and enjoy our dear friend Kurt's company not to mention the wonderful live music."

No sooner had the words left her mouth than the song ended and Ryan Seacrest was on stage with a microphone in hand, "All right, everyone, we're down to just over a minute to go so…"

"Fantastic," Kurt said, "one minute and I can begin the arduous journey back to the apartment so I can Skype with Blaine in the Columbus Airport. Just how I wanted to spend my first New Year's in New York."

"There's always next year, Kurt," Rachel said.

"And it will be your first New Year's in New York together," Quinn said, "He won't get snowed in anywhere because he'll already be here."

"Thirty seconds!" Seacrest shouted from the stage.

"Bah humbug," Kurt said crossing his arms.

"You know," Rachel said softly to Quinn, "If he's going to be Skyping all night with Blaine, then I see no reason we shouldn't go back to your lovely new place and celebrate the new year together."

"You mean?"

"I mean."

"TEN!"

"Are you sure?"

"NINE!"

"I'm sure."

"EIGHT!"

"No, but I mean are you sure?"

"SEVEN!"

"Quinn?"

"SIX!"

"Hmmm."

"FIVE!"

Rachel rocked up on her tip toes to whisper softly in Quinn's ear, "I want you, Quinn…"

"FOUR!"

"…so bad."

"THREE!"

"Rachel?"

"TWO!"

"Hmmm?"

"ONE!"

Quinn leaned in and crushed their lips together in a searing kiss cupping both of Rachel's cheeks in her hands. "HAPPY NEW YEAR!" There was a deafening cacophony of whistles and poppers and rattlers and noise makers of all kinds. Over it all they managed to hear Kurt scoff and say, "I'm leaving. I hope your lips don't get stuck together in this below freezing weather."

Rachel broke away from Quinn and watched him go, "Poor, Kurt."

"Blaine will be here by noon," Quinn said, "he'll forget all about him not being here now."

"All the more reason for me to not be home," Rachel said.

Quinn laughed, "So my place?" she asked taking Rachel's hand firmly in hers.

"Yes, please."

**A/N: Once again, everyone thanks for reading. Feel free to leave me any final thoughts on the story and I'll see some of you on my other stuff.**


End file.
